A Crossroads
by Kobalt-x-Wolf
Summary: Princess Zelda of Hyrule is left with an interesting letter to attend some sort of tournament that could determine the fate of all known dimensions. She must awaken her inner power and find away to aid the salvation of her people yet again, yet things aren't always as they seem. Super Smash Bros.
1. Chapter 1

I have decided to record my trial in an individual log, separate from the War of Darkness. The ordeal I have endured is a separate manner entirely, and deserves to have its own leather binding someday. It will remain secret in the section of the palace library only the royal family can access. Also, writing down my thoughts sometimes helps keeps my rushing mind sane. For now, I shall call this adventure by the name it was already given… Super Smash Brothers.

Entry One

A Mysterious Letter

"Zelda."

A warm summer's breeze greeted my face in the chilled midnight. The sound of my name caused me to jump just a little, as I expected no one to be up at this hour. I turned and wandered back into my room from my balcony, but there was not a soul in sight.

"Hello?" I muttered.

The voice repeated my name. It sounded firm, yet soft in an elderly sort of tone, almost echoey. I spotted a flicker of candle light in the hall. It was strange for any sort of advisor or servant call my name to wake me without knocking or even showing themself. After stepping into the hall in pursuit of the light, I was surprised to see a shadowy figure halfway down the corridor already.

"Excuse me!" I called, and when there was no answer, I followed a good ways until I finally became irritated. "If you called for me, why walk away with no incentive for me to follow? It is a bit rude."

The figure halted, and I felt an odd chill at the base of my neck. My eyes fought to adjust to see who stood before me, and though I wanted to know, my pace slowed. To add to my apprehension, there seemed to be not a guard in sight. The figure was wearing a cloak identical to my cloak of mourning that I wore during the time Hyrule was wrapped in darkness. It seemed only fair that its princess do the same. The person turned slowly, candle in hand, and underneath I saw a wise, knowing gaze of blue that made me feel completely exposed.

 _Where were those guards?_

I stood, frozen and unsure what to do.

Before I could speak, the figure spoke softly. "I wish to speak with you, but in a nicer place, as this may be one of the only times I am to converse with you, my sweet princess."

I squinted, trying to identify, but to no avail. Somehow I mustered, "Is… that my cloak?"

No surprise to me, there was no response and I once again, found myself trying to keep up with my visitor's pace to the point of nearly running. I was almost surprised with myself for following this stranger. After the war, I am not embarrassed to admit I became a bit paranoid and rather jumpy. If I questioned anything, I took my time to think twice for the safety of everyone. Never again will I allow my kingdom to fall.

Finally, I was led into the throne room, where the hooded shadow stopped, and turned to face me, only blue eyes visible. I panted a bit, where the stranger seemed unphased by the mad dash through the halls. In the back of my mind, I still realized there were no guards or servants to be seen, and though this haunting shadow sent a chill down my spine, there was something familiar and surprisingly comforting.

From under the cloak, gloved hands set the candle on the floor and the being was then seated upon the throne. A bit taken aback and even insulted, my apprehension was silenced as the silk gloves slide the hood away, and eventually shed the entire cloak.

Underneath was… me.

I stood in awe as a the ghostly figure of myself occupied my throne. No words could be found as I tried to understand. She was me, but not quite. She donned the traditional dress of the first-born daughter of the royal family. Zelda's dress, as it was called, as it is customary to name the eldest princess after the first queen to rule the land. Even though it was the same style, the color was a bit off and the designs seemed simpler… more ancient. She also bore a diadem and shoulder pauldrons and all of the jewels I usually wear, except those too were slightly different, and even the gem in the center of the headband was red instead of blue. Her hair was more golden, features more sharp, and posture more demanding, as if she held centuries of experience in her mind.

She spoke once more, but her tone seemed more youthful as she gazed around the vast hall. "It has been many years since I have sat upon such a throne. You are lucky, young one, that the goddesses graced you with a new palace after the first was destroyed."

I nodded solemnly, thinking back to when Ganondorf destroyed my home in the final battle.

She continued, "Sorry for being so mysterious. I assume, my child, that you have a general idea of who I am."

I nodded again, this time more briskly.

"I have come to give you a message: There is a great ordeal on the horizons. You must go against your first instinct and follow the new voices that call you. Once you leave, time will stand still. Once you accept your challenge, even more of the goddess's power will be discovered inside. But fear not, for you will not be alone."

Frowning, I already began attempting to make sense of her message, but before I could answer, she stood in front of me, grasping my gloved hand with hers.

 _I could have sworn I was wearing a nightgown_ , I thought as I noticed I, too, was wearing the matching traditional dress.

The more I stared at the ancient ruler before me, her appearance became less and less youthful until her age matched the voice in which I heard earlier. She muttered before fading, "Head my message, for it affects not only the fate of Hyrule, but the fate of numerous places."

I was stuck in a dream-like stupor as I tried to ask the hundreds of questions that flowed over my tongue, but it was too late. The spirit was gone, and I stood staring at my empty, or her empty, cloak still seated upon the throne.

* * *

I woke with a start, my breath visible in the midnight air. The summer warmth was no more, and I noticed my balcony door was open. I could have sworn I closed that. Getting out of bed, I wandered over to close it, but stopped myself. My mind was wide awake, so there was no possibility of sleeping anymore. Instead, I decided to sit on my porch swing and meditate for a while to calm my mind.

 _What had I even seen? Was that a crazy dream or a true prophetic vision? Was that truly an ancestor?_

I breathed in and out, slowly, serenely, until my heart rate slowed to nearly a deep-sleep pace, yet my mind still replayed the message over and over. ' _There is a great ordeal on the horizons. You must go against your first instinct and follow the new voices that call you. Once you leave, time will stand still. Once you accept your challenge, even more of the goddess's power will be discovered inside. But fear not, for you will not be alone.'_

The first disturbance of my concentration came the birds that awaken at sunrise, the next was sunrise itself, and I figured it was time to do my daily duties. I changed out of my nightgown and headed through the halls, hair down and jewels missing for once, but I still looked professional enough to pass.

Comforting, familiar faces of my guards and servants began to wander through the halls, their expressions tired, yet friendly. The events of my dream slowly faded until I could fully concentrate on the usual tasks at hand. Council meetings for taxes, dealing with citizens with special appointments, and preparing for upcoming events.

I sifted through the daily letters and found two in particular that seemed odd: one was addressed from Link, and the other had an odd seal that was unrecognizable. It was a strange circle with a cross inside of it...

I wasn't sure which to open first, so I decided to save the best for last and open the foreign one instead. I ripped it open anxiously and pulled out the contents. It read on the whitest paper I had ever seen:

 _YOU ARE FORMALLY INVITED TO ATTEND THE SUPER SMASH TOURNAMENT. Members will enjoy a casual, friendly event where participants from all over will join together and duke it out! WHAT!? SOUNDS DANGEROUS? Why, our special system keeps one from actually getting injured. It is more of… a simulation. You won't know until you try! To enter, simply show up to the headquarters and register. The quarters are located within the map provided._

 _What?_ I thought. It had to be a prank of some sort. Sometimes I get foolhardy citizens who think pranking the princess is worth either of our time. I didn't even look at the map. I shuffled it to the bottom of the pile and tore open Link's letter in anticipation. The paper was a much more natural color and his handwriting was a bit messy, yet charismatic. His read:

 _Dear Princess Zelda of Hyrule,_

 _I will be in Castletown on the final day of this week running a few errands for Rusl and the rest of the village. If it's not too much to ask, I was hoping to visit you. I received a very strange letter and feel that it was worth mentioning to you. It just gave me a weird feeling, yet is probably nothing. If none of this is possible, I understand. All that I ask of you is the message of whether or not I have been granted an audience in your presence._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Sir Link of Ordon_

I smiled and headed back to my quarters to write the response saying his attendance will take priority over all.

* * *

Three days had passed, giving my letter plenty of time to reach Link before he arrived in Castle Town. I was unsure of where to meet him, but after arranging all of my duties to be taken care of, I threw on my cloak to avoid excessive attention and wandered the streets in the afternoon sun. I lingered around the eastern and southern gates since he was most likely to arrive through one of those. To pass the time, I visited a few shops browsing the wares of shopkeepers who seemed too busy to notice their princess standing in their midst. However, my attempts to ease my growing excitement were starting to fail as the hours past.

I finally slumped down, seated at the edge of the fountain and started to replay the words spoken to me in my dream again. For now it was the purpose of distraction as I decided to do at least something productive. Some passing villagers began to eye me suspiciously yet left me alone. I, too, would wonder about a strange hooded figure staring off into space in the middle of rush hour as families gathered supplies for an evening meal after a long day of labor.

The sun was at the brink of twilight and I felt the urge to go home. Maybe he decided not to come and the letter he spoke of was no longer important. Wandering around Castle Town all day was a waste, for he could have just shown the guards my signature and they would have let him in, yet a day in the fresh air wasn't so bad. If only the feeling of disappointment would leave, then my regrets of wasting time would maybe dissipate.

I got up to leave, yet a flash of green caught my eye. I followed it in anticipation, trying to weave through the thick crowd, but as I approached, it was just another strange face. As I turned to leave, something caught the edge of my foot and down I tumbled, my hood flinging off to reveal my face. A few people gasped, others came to see, forming an awkward, claustrophobic ring around me. Now it was surely time to leave.

Before I could lift myself back onto my feet, a pair of strong hands grabbed my arm and I was met with a warm smile. "I've got you, Princess."

 **NOTE: Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed chapter one! Just a couple of things and a *guilty* promo. I started this story in inspiration of the Facebook pages I run and the fans who follow me. If you would like to see the unedited, early releases of these chapters, check out Zelda - Holder of Wisdom on FB. Don't be afraid to message my page if you think it's me and you're not sure. I will attempt to upload little snippets to the page everyday, double check them, and take a week's worth or so and put it into a chapter. There may be small changes from the page to this site, but the official chapters will be found here. There is not a large promise that I will be consistent, and I am sorry for that, but I have a lot of things in life I need to manage as well as all of this so hopefully any 'gaps' won't be too large. I was just so excited to get it out there, I didn't want to wait until the entire thing was finished. I also believe it will motivate me to write more if I have a sort of subconscious deadline. Anyway, my Author's Notes won't be as long anymore. I talk a lot. Sorry :P Have a fantastic day!**


	2. Chapter 2

Entry Two

Whispers of the Past

A smile grew upon my face, bright and wide, I forgot about the ring of curious residents as my gaze met shining blue eyes, soft yet fierce. Link placed his hands on my shoulders to set me upright. "You alright?" He wondered.

I nodded and muttered, "We should go inside," as I glanced nervously around at the staring people. He nodded and stuck out his arm to escort me properly. The crowd parted and shuffled away as we strode through to the gates. The guards simply nodded as we passed.

Link wore his Hero's tunic and the red cape given to him from his knighting ceremony. Only the best of the best received a red cape in honor of the blood shed by the Hero of the Goddess. His sword and shield were slung across his back, yet the only thing that seemed off was the fact that the sword wasn't the Master Sword. I had gotten used to him carrying the legendary blade, and now he looked a bit less ancient with a regular Ordonian sword.

His eyes flashed at me in the corners of his sockets. Realizing he noted my staring, I tried to say something, "T-thanks for helping me back there."

"Oh, uh, yes. Of course. Sorry I took so long to find you. The errands took much longer than expected. Man, that blacksmith is slow. He bargained with me for hours about weaponry prices. I know I have patience usually, but he was definitely reaching my limit. At least I sold everything Rusl needed me to sell," Link sighed.

"Well that is good to hear," I responded simply. We walked through the castle halls in increasing silence. Link let me take the lead as this was my territory now, and I could feel his confidence ebbing out of him as servants and guard either bowed or nodded deeply in our direction. He wasn't used to such treatment, surely.

I decided our meeting take place in the library: a sure area for peace and quiet.

We sat in padded chairs across from each other and awkwardly attempted small talk for a good half an hour. I sent out my best teamaker, Beto, to send some refreshments. I was trying so hard to hide my cracking smile, for it had been quite a spell since I had last seen Link's face. There is something deep down that everyone feels I am certain, in which showing too much emotion could scare a person away, and in being a princess, the less emotion shown, the better. A level head balances a kingdom much more proficiently.

All seemed well in his life. He was welcomed home a hero by his entire village, Hyrule was safe, and of course, I knighted him as soon as I received the chance. Yet, as I read his expression while we visited, something seemed slightly off. I cannot imagine the ordeals he's faced, and maybe that was all that afflicted him, but the look seemed almost 'empty' as if something was missing…

"Anyway," he interrupted my thoughts and reached into his pouch, "I found this to be highly questionable. I'm sure it's nothing but I just wanted to be safe." I nearly spat out my tea I was drinking when I saw the seal. It was the same circle with the cross through it. Setting the teacup down, I snatched it, eyes wide, and nearly startled Link in the process. Sure enough, the 'invitation' was the same.

Link waited patiently for me to say something, and when I told him my same experience, he sat back, looking almost confused and as if he had been expecting the answer that came from me. The next thing he said made even more chills crawl along my back. "Also, I don't know if this is relevant, but I think I was visited by a spirit last night, one I already know at that."

"It was the Hero's Shade. I'm not sure exactly who he is, but he aided me immensely on my quest. I think he was one of the old legends… Though I have no way of knowing." Link continued.

I nodded, listening to all he told me, and when he recited the very words told to me by my own ghost, I knew something was coming. Something huge.

"What does it mean?" he pressed.

"I do not know for sure, but I have a feeling you may not be returning home tomorrow," I responded gravely. Something behind his gaze shattered a little, and I immediately understood why. The war was finally over. We were supposed to be living in peace. "Wait. Before we come to any conclusions I think this is important enough to look into. It could be nothing, for even this morning I considered it to be a simple prank pulled by someone with nothing better to do. What more fun to be had then tease the princess and Hyrule's finest knight?"

Link nodded slowly, blushing ever so slightly at my compliment. After a few moments of silence, his expression changed to something more determined. and he said, "Tomorrow I will travel to this spot marked on the map. It seems to lead into the Sacred Grove. If this kingdom is in danger, by any means I will protect it."

To his dismay, I answered with, "I am coming with you."

"Princess… I don't think-"

"Link, I was invited too. I have a feeling that we need to stick together on this one. What if I am required? It has to mean something," I protested.

He frowned a little, thinking better than to question his nation's ruler. Nodding deeply he said, "As you wish. I will escort you to the Sacred Grove in the morning."

Half of a smile and a nod was the response he received. I felt a twinge of guilt, taking charge of a person who didn't deserve it in the slightest. Link was one of those people so intuitive and wise, I question why I was chosen to receive the Triforce of Wisdom. Changing the subject, I said, "It is getting rather late. I can show you where you will be staying."

"You want me to stay here?" He inquired, awestruck.

"Of course."

Link followed me through the emptying halls, fidgeting with his cape and taking in the sights which seemed newly-refurbished, and technically they were. The return of my home was one of the only favors I have ever asked of the goddesses directly. The other was to keep Link and Midna safe on their journey. Asking the goddesses for direct, immediate favors was something frowned upon, as divine intervention didn't happen often and sometimes came with a cost. I was one of the only living beings close enough to them to even do such a thing. The restoration of my home seems selfish in a sense, but to me, Hyrule Castle holds a sense of pride among all people, a feeling of security, and such a feeling was something my people needed when the war ended. Also, it would take years to rebuild a building of such proportion.

I led Link to a room just down the hall from mine, and when he seemed unsure about the location, I answered, "It is a room for friends of the family, and with the death of my parents long ago, there is not many left. Please, you are my friend and I insist. Sorry if it is rather dusty."

He laughed a little and said, "Alright then. Goodnight, Princess."

"Please," I insisted, "Call me Zelda. You have every right to."

Smiling, in a sweet tone that would stay in my mind for the rest of the night, he uttered, "Goodnight, Zelda." And after kissing my hand, he vanished into his room.

* * *

"Come, Your Highness."

I twitched in my sleep, trying to chase away the strange faces that appeared over and over, some seemingly inhuman. There was a deep, yet familiar voice that called me, attempting to shoo them away, yet a softer voice that pleaded for him to keep me asleep just a moment longer.

"It is but a prophetic dream. Let her alone a moment more."

"We haven't much time."

The strange faces surrounded me, welcoming, yet frightening all the same, and before I knew what to say, they randomly turned on each other. They all fought in front of my very eyes, yet I sensed no malice. It was as if it was a mass sparring match. Suddenly, there was a tap on my shoulder, and I turned to find Link standing behind me, fully armed with an odd gleam in his eye. He raised the Master Sword over his head, blade falling, falling for my throat.

I awoke in a cold sweat and was met with a chilling gale. I was suspended on my balcony outside, face towards the moon. There was a strange, struggling breath rasping in my ear that was interrupted with the words, "Awaken dear Princess of Hyrule, for we have one last message."

I realized I was being held and turned to see a ghostly, skeletal face looking down on me. Letting out a distressed cry, I struggled in his arms. The face of the past Zelda who visited me before appeared next to us and tried to calm me, yet before the pair could put me down, Link burst through my balcony door, dressed only in pants, sword ready and feral eyes gleaming.

The spirit set me down immediately and I dashed to Link's side, as he stood in front of my protectively, but when he saw who stood before him, the blade he held was lowered as well as his gaze.

"My child," the ghost boomed at Link, "I have returned to give one last message to the both of you."

The Zelda of old nodded and stepped up to her companion, removing his helmet to reveal a face nearly identical to Link's. An old scar ran across one blinded eye. My Link let out a short gasp.

The Hero's Shade continued with a chuckle to me, "You were making so much noise, I had to bring you out here to avoid alerting the guards."

Link responded for me, "I'm sure the whole castle is on its way here by now. The guard in the hall went for backup when I ran in."

The ancient queen urged, "Then we do not have much time. Heed the message we gave to you a few nights ago. Both of you must face this ordeal together, but it will be nothing you have faced before. Our world and the worlds of others could end up in grave danger if all fails."

"Go with what they tell you at first, for keeping innocent is your greatest disguise. You'll learn valuable traits if you run with the wolves for a while. When the time is right, warn the others," the Hero's Shade continued, smiling and revealing a set of fangs. Link simply nodded, but I had tons of questions.

Loud footsteps thundered down the corridors. The old heroes grasped each others' hands and vanished with a whisper that said in both timbres, "Thank you young ones, for now we can truly rest.

It took only a few minutes to explain to the guards that everything was alright, saying it was just a nightmare I had. Once they all left, I was faced with saying goodnight to Link once again.

"It has to be important if they came to us twice," I muttered as we observed the stars for a few moments. Link nodded in agreement. As I leaned over the railing, I felt a change in body language from him. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably, and I soon understood why when I met his gaze. Glancing back and forth, it was as if he was unsure what to look at. I felt my face grow hot, for I was only clothed in a short nightgown, and he in a pair of pants. My eyes had the same side effects as well, and neither of us could make eye contact.

Finally I broke the silence. "We can discuss it in the morning on the way to the Sacred Grove. I think we both need to get some rest."

Link nodded and said, "Goodnight, Princ- I mean Zelda."

"Goodnight," I said as he nodded deeply and left. - _Yet we probably will have a hard time falling asleep anyway… Or at least I will,-_ is what I almost added. In truth, I was severely nervous for whatever was to come.

-' _But fear not, for you will not be alone.'-_

Anything for my kingdom…

I had to trust the message. I had to trust Link. I had to trust myself, and my instincts tell me, "Go."

 **A/N Hi all! Hope you liked chapter two! I put it up just a tish early but the pre-edited version of ch3 will be up on Zelda - Holder of Wisdom. Onward!**


	3. Chapter 3

Entry Three

An Escort to the Unknown

The fresh morning air woke my senses with a rush of wind and the symphony of birds that flew overhead. Link, wearing his Hero's tunic but without the Knight's cape this time, led me to his loyal steed. I lifted my small bag of belongings I chose to take with and hooked it to Epona's saddle. It mostly consisted of my sword, some food, an extra change of clothes, and my cloak. Hopefully it would be enough. Before Link could help me up, I hopped onto Epona's rump, similarly to the way I rode during our last battle with Ganondorf. Link looked taken aback for just a moment, but then cracked a grin and jumped up in front of me. He laughed, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," I answered.

And with a bit more apprehension, he asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"About what?"

"Coming with me to check out whatever… this is," He said, pointedly waving around the invitation.

"Of course I am. Why would you wonder?" I shuffled a bit nervously, trying my hardest to hide the uneasiness welling in my chest.

"I just wanted to make sure."

I nodded and smiled, though he didn't seem convinced. With the click of his tongue, Epona was in motion. My horse riding experience was polished enough to balance on Epona's hind quarters without even needing to hang on. We rode for quite some time, and looking backward upon my fading home only intensified my nerves. The last thing I saw until my vision was disrupted by the edge of Faron Woods was the very tower I was kept in for an eternity in the darkness that was my life as my people were oppressed into nothing but spirits that wandered the streets. Shuddering, I turned around and focused on the mission at hand.

"You alright back there, Princess?" Link hollered.

"Yes!" _How can he sense this stuff?_

Soon after we exited Hyrule Field, Link rode up to Faron spring and asked, "We are nearly there. Would you like a bit of a rest?"

I hopped into the wet sand, the blood running back to the places in my legs that had numbed.

Link chuckled as he slid off, "I'll take that as a yes."

Epona sipped at the spring water greatfully. As tempting as it was to just sit and soak up some moisture in the summer heat, I decided not having to deal with a wet dress later was the best option. "So, um," I muttered, attempting conversation, but then I noticed Link staring directly at the heart of the spring and fell silent. A tiny droplet of water leaped to life, and what followed caused me to bow deeply as a godly presence was shining over the two of us.

Faron in his primate-like appearance, hung suspended on his share of the light that illuminated our land. In a slow, deep voice he uttered, "Heroes of fate… Stay upon the path that you have chosen. Go to the Grove and pull the Sword from its stone once more, as it calls for one last adventure. The world is in your hands once more. Do not forget this…" And with that, the light spirit faded immediately.

Link and I stood in silence for a bit until I let out a nervous laugh, "Great. More messages for us to remember."

Link rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and laughed. "We better get there then."

I clearly wasn't the only nervous one.

We rode on until walking was our only option as the terrain became too rough for Epona to trot safely. I tried to make conversation with asking, "I have not been able to speak with you much about how life has been since you have returned home besides what was said yesterday."

"Oh? I suppose there isn't much else to say," Link uttered.

I frowned a bit. "Everyone is well, though?"

"Yeah."

 _You are real good at conversations._ I had to be a bit forgiving though, as I was avoiding the rushing thoughts in my head, and he was clearly unable to rid of them.

After a moment of silence he tried to keep what I started, all the while helping me over boulders and up vines that needed to be climbed. "This-whatever is coming-I'm not sure if I'm quite ready for it. I thought the war was over. I thought Hyrule was safe… I thought I had done my job."

Softly, I reminded him, "You did all that was asked of you and then some. Hyrule does not deserve you. Now, it seems that there is multiple worlds that need you if I understand correctly"

"That isn't really helping," he sighed, then thinking better of himself said, "I'm sorry. That wasn't meant to-"

"It is alright. I understand, really." I could sense that we were reaching our destination due to the feeling of power just beyond the bend. "There is immense pressure on your shoulders right now, but remember what the message said."

"What's that?" Link inquired as we strode through the hidden gate to the Master Sword, where both the light spirit and the map actually said to go.

"You are not alone."

Link smiled at me and I could see him visibly relax. He nodded sincerely before stepping up to the Master Sword placed within the Pedestal of Time. Soft expression turned fierce, he gripped the handle, and with the flex of his biceps and a grunt, pulled. My heart thudded, for there was something utterly magical in the scene that took place before me. I have read about the legends of old, yet witnessing the blade actually being pulled from the stone was something I had never thought I would experience. There was a slight sound of metal scraping on stone and then the blade was free. My face was buffeted with a gust of wind as Link raised the Master Sword skyward. Gleaming in the sunlight, the blade glowed with a mysterious power, a sharpness that never dulls, a blade that never rusted.

Link placed the Ordon sword in his magic, bottomless bag and sheathed the Master Sword in his scabbard. The same wolfish eyes stared at me followed by a grin to match. I couldn't help but smile and run to him, yet there was nothing to be said for a few moments.

I was about to ask what we were supposed to do next, but there was a shuttering underfoot that wiped both of our grins away. My eyes whipped to the pedestal and spotted a large crack in the ground underneath the stone. Before I could react, it spread to inches from my feet. The last thing I saw was Link's frightened expression and his hand reaching toward me as I fell into darkness, my scream echoing as I fought to hear his.

I felt myself falling through a place unknown. I seemingly fell forever, yet in just moments, there was a rush of light below me. As I braced for impact, I tried to mentally prepare myself for the end. I wanted to close my eyes as the grass below held out its evil blades, ready to catch my body and release my spirit, but I couldn't close them. Finally, I met with the ground, and expected searing pain or nothing at all since death was imminent, yet I was met with a slight, stinging discomfort and a mouth full of dirt. I lied there for while, dazed and trying to understand why I wasn't dead, or was I?

"Oh, hello! Who is this? Are you lost?"

I jumped, and sat up. I was met with a sweet gaze of a young woman, hovering over me. She held the hand of a much shorter man in a red hat. Before I could speak, the royal-looking woman exclaimed, carrying a bit of a strange accent, "Wow! Your ears! I have never seen such a thing! Where are you from?"

I subconsciously felt the fine tips of my Hylian ears and looked at theirs. They were short and rounded, like that of an Ordonian's. "I.. uh. Who are you?" was all I could think to say.

"Oh! Excuse my rudeness! I am Princess Toadstool, but you can call me Peach. And this is Mario," the princess explained. The short man nodded sternly yet his eyes held friendship. As he did so, his moustache bobbed comically.

"Princess? Princess of what?" I was even more lost and almost a little offended.

"The Mushroom Kingdom! You really are not from around here are you?"

"Evidently not. Where am I?" Just then, I noticed the same invitation in both of their hands.

This time, it was Mario who spoke, and he had an even heavier accent, "We were-a invited to be smashers. Don't really know what it means, but we-a decided to find out."

Suddenly, there was a familiar scream, and seconds laters, Link landed next to me with a 'thud.'

"Link! Oh thanks the goddesses!" I exclaimed, placing a gloved hand on his cheek as he rolled over, looking just as confused as I felt.

"More pointy ears!" Peach exclaimed, getting Link's full attention. He sat up next to me, staring at the two newcomers, speechless.

"I have no idea," I muttered, reading his mind.

Link simply stood, helping the me to my feet as well.

"Oh you are so tall as well!" Peach noted, making Mario frown a little.

Link just nodded awkwardly. He stood a few inches taller than Peach while his straight gaze usually met with my forehead, making me just a speck taller than the Peach.

"We-a should keep going," Mario said, squeezing Peach's hand. "We can talk on tha way. You two a-comin'?"

Link and I just glanced at each other and nodded. These two were friendly enough and maybe held answers. Link, however, pulled out the Master Sword in his left hand and held my right, walking just a little ahead of me. Princess Toadstool seemed to be in utter awe of the hero, glancing at him every chance she got. Mario led the group forward, and within a matter of minutes, they passed through a grove of trees. In front of them stood a large, powerful looking mansion. Other strange figures were gathering and lurking in front of the large building.

Link finally spoke since his arrival, muttering, "What is this place?"

Link tightened his grip on the sword as we pushed forward.

Mario peered into the crowd as they neared, as if he spotted something familiar. "Luigi!" He suddenly called, pulling Peach after him.

Link and I stayed behind, following apprehensively. He stood in front of me protectively, though I didn't mind. Princess Toadstool motioned for us to come closer, her warm smile suggesting it was alright to approach the strangers. Mario chatted with a man slightly taller than him that appeared to be a relative of some sort; they were even dressed similarly. We reached the edge of the group next to Peach and observed the strangers. Some seemed to be swordsmen, others held all sorts of weapons unfamiliar to me, and others yet had nothing but big fists. They were all different shapes and sizes, and some weren't even human. My heart thumped nervously as I shyly stood behind Link who seemed to be sharing the same anxiety; the only difference was he was willing to go first. The crowd gave awkward glances, hesitant nods, and 'hellos.'

Eventually, one creature dared to approach us, though I suppose we weren't very threatening at that moment. It was a little, yellow mouse-like creature about the size of a cat. Atop his head was a set of large, pointy ears, and an odd, faint crackling noise seemed to be coming from its presence as if a miniature lightning storm crawled across its skin. He slowly crawled along the ground, seemingly frightened, yet attracted to my gentle presence. By the time I noticed him, he was almost touching the brim of my skirt. My eyes grew wide as I stepped back hesitantly which made the little monster flinch.

"Oh hello," I muttered, catching Link's attention who turned around as well. The intimidation of the warrior made the little thing whine and cower.

Link frowned and lowered his blade when he understood the absence of a threat. "What- what is that?" he mumbled.

I shrugged, less worried about creature being dangerous due to its obvious nature. It almost reminded me of a Keaton, but such things were a very rare sight in Hyrule. Gently, I lowered my body so that I was kneeling in front of the shaking figure. As I did so, the crackling grew a little louder.

"Be careful," Link groaned, "You don't know what that thing does."

"He does not seem very dangerous," I pleaded, looking at his warning expression with utter sympathy for the little thing. Slowly, before Link could say more, I stretched out my fingers, making sure my palm was facing towards the sky. It continued to tremble, but looked less frightened. "Are you lost little one?" I cooed. It seemed to relax with the tone of my voice and hesitantly propped itself onto its haunches, oversized head wagging back and forth in a comical manner.

"Pi?"

I giggled a little at the noise it made, and my laughter seemed to wash away the rest of its fright, for a moment later, it let out a happy squeak and something very unexpected. "Pi! PICHU!" it squealed and a jolt of electricity traveled up my arm.

"Gah!" I yelped, pulling back and causing the yellow monster to draw back in fear.

Link stepped in between. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… My pride just hurts a little," I retorted, letting him help me stand once more. My fingers stung and arm tingled, but I was more so annoyed with myself for being careless.

Link glared at the trembling figure which seemed to paralyze it instantly. Suddenly, there was a new voice that called the word 'Pichu' as a young boy ran up with an assortment of other monsters following him. "I'm so sorry Miss! He didn't mean it!" a young, yet gruff voice called from the newcomer. "He isn't very good at holding his electricity yet." There was another yellow figure perched on his shoulder, but this one was a bit larger. Behind him swooped in some sort of orange reptile and it growled a bit, setting out a puff of smoke. Next came a little green dino with a plant sprouting from its noggin, and finally some sort of turquoise turtle rolled into place at the foot of his master, magically dripping water all over the grass.

We could do nothing but stare in confusion until I finally found words and asked as the boy picked up the first creature, "Who are you? And more importantly, what are they?"

"Oh! My apologies! I've had to explain this a few times already… My name is Red and these are my Pokemon!" The kid cheered, hugging the monster who had shocked me until it looked less frightened.

"Pokemon?" I wondered.

"Yeah! They are little creatures that I, a Pokemon trainer, go around and catch them to train them a battle against other Pokemon! One day, I'll be a master!"

His explanation only solved a fraction of the questions I had, but I decided to just go with it for once. Link lowered his blade again, listening. The boy continued, naming off his friends in the order they had appeared, "This is Pichu. Sorry again about the jolt. He's trying his best." He raised the little one in his arms for emphasis. Next he nodded to the one on his shoulders, "And this is Pikachu whom is in the same evolutionary family as Pichu. And these guys are Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle." In turn the Pokemon danced a little, seemingly echoing their own names as Red spoke.

I just nodded, trying to comprehend. Link simply put his sword away and held out a hand to Red who shook it kindly. "Nice to meet you friend!" Red said, smiling. Link simply nodded as if to say 'likewise.'

Before any more greetings could be exchanged, there was a deep, intimidating voice that hushed the whole crowd. "HEROES FROM ALL OVER, WELCOME TO SMASH."

 **A/N: Hi again friends! Hope you enjoyed Ch 3! The pre-edited snippets of Ch 4 will be up on Zelda - Holder of Wisdom on FB. Leave a review of what you think if you feel like! Warning: I have just started college and my schedule is nuts. Sorry if my postings are a bit more sparse. I have plans to keep working on it though! Have a fantastic day!**


	4. Chapter 4

Entry Four

New Acquaintances

I jumped a little at the sudden noise and whirled around to see a pair of giant… floating… hands. The hands' audience seemed so taken aback by the unexpected sight, that we all just stared as the disembodied voice continued, "You are the finest of the finest and to have been hand-picked by us." The right one 'said.' The other hand seemingly laughed at the apparent joke, but none of us found it funny. I wrung my hands nervously, yet they no longer hurt from the shock I had received. The right hand continued, "I know many of you are confused, but I promise my brother and I will explain along the way. My name is Master hand, and this is Crazy hand." The left hand waved sarcastically, chuckling maniacally. "Don't mind him either. I call him 'Crazy' for a purpose. For now, before we get into the details, I would like to make you feel comfortable first. Go socialize for a while and then we'll bring in the rest of our members and have circle time. Just know that this is not a dangerous place, and any offenders who attempt to destroy our peace will be dealt with, severely. However, worry not, for damage done unto you is rather… ineffective. We'll explain later." And with that, the hands ushered us all into the mansion for the real party and disappeared.

My mind was racing. I glanced back and forth, trying to make sense of anything, but my vision was beginning to blur, hands shaking. I saw from humanoid animals wielding weapons unknown to me to an actual dog with a duck on his back. There were tall humans and small humans and reptilian figures and a… yellow, walking circle? The silence was broken by a near roar of voices, some shouts of anger and confusion, some trying to calm the situation, others actually introducing themselves to one another.

My eyes continued to blur until colors were blended and shapes weren't shapes anymore. Silently, a tear slipped away moments before I understood that I had started to cry. A princess wasn't supposed to show too much emotion, for a level head balances a kingdom much more proficiently.

I felt my hand subconsciously rush to my cheek, but before it could reach its destination, Link snatched it. I turned to face him, trying to wipe the fear away, yet I knew his icy gaze could still see it lingering in mine. He lowered my hand so I would be forced to wear the mark of emotion I had tried to wipe away. I was caught, and embarrassment accompanied my stress, yet I couldn't look away from his eyes.

He took a step closer and muttered, "Take a breath and focus on me for a while, okay?"

I nodded, and with his other hand, he wiped away the tear I had let loose, a soft blush settling on his cheeks. I was mildly surprised by his actions, yet he didn't seem to notice how bold of a move he was actually taking on his nation's princess, but I didn't mind as long as he stayed by my side.

Suddenly, there was a tugging on my skirt that broke our eye contact as I looked down to find Pichu trying to worm his way underfoot, obviously frightened by something. I scanned the crowd for a source, but I couldn't even locate Red amongst the people. Link squeezed my hand in warning, but something told me it would be better for everyone if I at least tried to comfort the little thing.

"Hey, little thing," I cooed, letting go of Link's hand and holding out both arms gently.

"Princess, that 'little thing' harmed you," Link protested.

"I know, I know, but he did not mean to. Look at him! Pichu is just afraid and stressed out… like me."

At my soft words, Pichu carefully stepped into my arms and nuzzled against my chest, whimpering. _-I feel the same way, little one,-_ I thought.

Link reached out towards Pichu's head, and at first, the imp shrank away, but then he sensed the same gentility coming from the knight as he did me and allowed us both to comfort.

"Hey, is this yours?"

I looked up to find a tall, blond woman in a skin-tight, sky-blue suit wandering towards me with Pikachu in her arms. Her presence was intimidating, yet she seemed friendly enough. Pikachu nuzzled into her, making happy squeaks,

"No, this one is not even mine. He just found us," I responded, motioning to Pichu who was cuddling me as well.

"Well then. I don't know what to do with it," she snorted. I expected her to look uncomfortable holding Pikachu, but she nearly cradled him. "The name's Samus, by the way. Do you have the slightest clue as to what's going on here?"

I shook my head, glancing downward.

"Well? What are your names?"

I looked at her again. "Oh! Excuse my rudeness. My name is Zelda and this is Link."

"Huh. Never heard names like those before."

I just smiled awkwardly and asked, "Where are you from?"

Samus answered, "K-2L originally, but Zebes is where I've spent most of my time growing up."

I didn't really know what to say except, "Well, um, Link and I are from the Kingdom of Hyrule, and I am its leader."

"Just one leader huh? Well that's interesting as well. I'm no leader. Just a bounty hunter. Also what's with the get-up?"

"The what?"

She laughed, "Nevermind. I should know better than to ask such a question to someone who seems at least human compared to some of these things…" I saw her eye the yellow circle thing. "Or at least I'm being led to believe you're human." Samus then was staring at our Hylian ears.

I just looked at Link and we nodded in sync.

"Doesn't he say anything?" She was still looking at Link and I saw a flush of red in his face.

"Sometimes," I snickered.

"Oh there you are!" a familiar voice made me jump a little. Princess Peach had found us again, but Mario was no where to be seen.

"You were looking for us?" I pondered.

"I suppose. They said to socialize," she stated. Samus and I just held the pokemon and Link shuffled awkwardly. Introductions are hard.

Our odd silence didn't last long however, as Peach brought up something that drastically changed the situation. "Oh, hey, Link. I part of the reason I came to find you two was to ask if you were missing anyone."

"What do you mean?" He inquired quickly, making Samus almost jump at his sudden voice in which she hadn't heard yet.

"We there two… mini yous," she said, scratching her head.

"What?" I asked.

Peach sighed, "Follow me then."

I looked to Samus and held out Pichu. "Could you take him for me?"

"I suppose. Let's count how many yellow rats Samus can hold," The bounty hunter retorted.

"Thank you."

Link and I ran after Peach as she pushed through the crowd in attempts to locate the people she had spoken of. Sure enough, right where she led us, there were two little figures seemingly locked in conversation, dressed in green with swords slung on their backs.

"Well? Do they belong to you?" Peach asked, and at the sound of her voice, the two little 'Links' turned around and we all fell dead silent, observing each other. One looked very cutesy and small, like a caricature, and the other was simply a kid version of my Link.

The young one broke the silence, "Hey, Mister! Is your name Link too?"

I gasped a little. Link stood frozen and unsure at first, but then nodded slowly. He knelt down so that their gazes could meet and gently, my Link inquired, "Who are you? Where are you from?"

"Well I just sorta told you… I'm Link, and well, this is Link too," the young one said, motioning to the other one who was somehow even shorter. "I'm from the Kokiri forest and he is from… Where did you say it was?"

A sweet little voice muttered, his big eyes darting around, "Outset Island."

"Yeah!"

Something rang a bell in my mind. "Kokiri forest?" I uttered to myself. That was a place in the time of… "The Hero of Time!"

The young one turned to me. "Yeah? That's me I guess."

My Link looked to me, wide-eyed and even more shocked. The spirits we had spoken to just hours before… one of them stood before us in a most humble presence.

"Hey! Well I'm the Hero of Winds!" The toony one protested, trying to stand as tall as his friend. -To specify, I have decided to call them Young Link and Toon Link so not to confuse myself or anyone else for that matter.-

I walked over to kneel next to Link, leaving Peach to her own devices. I felt a surge of motherly emotion flow over me as I looked into their eyes; they seemed just as nervous as I felt. "The Hero of Time and the Hero of Winds, huh? Well Mr. Winds, I have not heard of your legend. Would you mind telling me sometime? I have a feeling we are all going to be here for a while." His big eyes widened at my words and he nodded vigorously.

Young Link spoke next, "Are… Are you a princess? You sort of look like the princess where I come from… but not really." He studied my face thoroughly, trying to make sense of everything.

"Yes. I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule, but not from your time. Believe it or not, young one, but you happen to be MY ancestor," I said softly. I could see the wheels of his mind turning as he tried to process my statement. I regarded, "Not to worry. We will figure all of this out later. For now, I must ask, will you both accompany us in this mess?"

Glancing at each other first, they looked to me and nodded.

Link stood and helped me to my feet as well. Young Link hung around my side and Toon link wandered aimlessly behind us as we entered back into the crowd. There was a constant buzz of conversation. Peach was no where to be found, so I figured she ran off to meet other people as the three Links and I were getting acquainted.

Suddenly, a gush of wind silenced the party. The hands floated through the doors of the mansion once more, a dark crowd of strangers standing behind. "Smashers! Before you get too comfortable, we have one more wave of fighters to introduce to you, and better yet, the assistants will be coming shortly after. Now, do no be alarmed, for we have made… adjustments… for each and every baddie so that everyone gets along. If there is any issue, fear not for your safety. No one can actually be harmed in our special place," Master Hand announced.

His brother was getting fidgety. "Come on Master! Let's just let them in and see how it goes."

"Crazy, we should approach this gently."

"But why? You just said yourself how safe is it," Crazy Hand pleaded.

"Oh… fine. I suppose a bit of a brawl would be a good way to introduce everyone to each other. Come on in, villains across the universe."

The hoard stepped inside. Proud, harsh gazes took in the crowd of heroes.

Link took my hand and pulled me forward to the front as if he had spotted something, leaving the smaller Links behind. What I saw before me once more caused a shattering within. My heart beated faster than a horse's hooves at full speed. I covered my mouth with one hand to keep me from screaming, and clenched Link's hand with my other as the tears returned to my eyes.

 **A/N: Hey all! This one is a bit shorter. Sorry I've been so busy. I know my updates will be farther apart from now on but I shall try my best to post. Leave a review if you feel like it! I like to know how it's going. 3 The pre-edited versions are posted to Zelda - Holder of Wisdom on FB. Have a fantastic day! Love you all!**


	5. Chapter 5

Entry Five

Upside Down

The dark figures before us loomed; the air continued to tense every second, every heartbeat, every stuttered breath I inhaled. Link wriggled out of my grasp, unsheathing the Master Sword. The line of heroes all followed suit, preparing themselves for a fight. Some looked a might confused, but the rest seemed to have something dreadfully familiar in front of them. The air around Link was thick and deadly; the amount of anger flowing off of him nearly scared me more than Lord Ganondorf who presented himself with more even authority than before.

Ganondorf. _The_ incarnate of hatred whom was supposedly killed by the swordsman that now stood ready to do it all over again. I had witnessed the final battle. I had assisted in the Dark Lord's demise. I had watched Link plunge the Master Sword into his heartless chest and observed the light leave his eyes. The war was supposed to be over…

A large reptilian being stepped to the front, and with an ear-splitting roar, led the hoard forward. Link had no choice but to leave me standing behind with a few other stragglers as the room exploded into chaos. I lost sight of both the hero and the villain from my homeland. This was the end for everyone; I expected to see pools of blood and death forming in front of me.

Vocal chords nearly tearing, I screamed for Link but I could hardly hear my own voice over the rush of noise. I whirled around, looking for anyone I could associate my pathetic existence with. Useless. I felt so useless as the brawl began to surround me. There was a flash of red and green and Mario and Luigi slammed their fists into the reptilian figure's face before he could breath fire. Samus, void of any pokemon, had some sort of weapon aimed at a large bird-like man wielding a hammer. Something large grabbed me from behind, pulling my body to the edge of the herd. Trying to free myself only caused the large, harry fists to tighten until my airway was nearly closed off completely. With a 'thud,' I landed on the floor, gasping for air. A large ape stood over me, poking my cheek. When he saw that I was alive, the beast leaped away into the fray once more.

Rather thankful for the iffy rescue, I tried to locate Link again, stress rising farther into my chest. I couldn't just stand there anymore, but what was I to do? My bag with my sword in it was left in Epona's saddle, so I was virtually defenseless.

"Even more of the goddess's power will be discovered inside," a small voice muttered.

I turned to see Young Link hovering by my skirt, fixated on the battle. "What did you say?" I gasped.

He looked at me, almost past me, confused. "I didn't say anything. Did I?"

I just stared as the message began to replay in my head.

"Come on Princess! We should help!" Young Link grasped my hand and drug me into the mud I did not wish to step in.

 _-"Even more of the goddess's power will be discovered inside."-_

I had to find what that was, and quickly.

Young Link pulled out his sword as well, standing up to the nearest baddie he could find, yet he stayed near my side as if to protect me while helping everyone else.

"What a pretty crown. Mind if I take a look at it?"

An aggressive paw dug its claw into my arm, spinning me around so that I was met with a wolfish face. The humanoid beast glared at me with one eye, for the other required a patch. He held a metallic object to my forehead, waiting. Enough was enough.

Angrily, my gaze turned ferocious, and with his mere moment of surprise, I knocked away the weapon and punched him square in the nose, fist literally flaming. He yelped in surprise and staggered into Princess Peach who knocked him across the head with an umbrella.

"Nice one Zelly!" She called before returning to her business. The crowd seemingly swallowed my attacker and I was given a few seconds to ponder my own actions before Young Link tugged on my skirt. He pointed into the heart of the crowd, where Link was locked in battle with none other than Ganondorf. The dark lord was swordless, but seemed to be keeping up with the Hylian hero's pace as the Master Sword met his arm guards. Link narrowly dodged the deadly punches and purple-glazed, electric grabs.

Without waiting for Young Link, I rushed forward, both hands flaring, fighting harder than ever before to swallow my crippling fear. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I screamed as I threw a volley of fire at the face I had hoped to never see again.

Link hopped out of the way, pulling out a pair of bombs and rolled them into Ganon's feet as he was distracted by my actions. "Zelda, no! Get out of here!" Link demanded.

I ignored him, feeling a rush of power reach my fingertips. The fire turned to an electric spark, and I pushed my hands forward, shutting my eyes as I prepared to make contact. Unexpectedly, he side-stepped my efforts and I landed, face down, all bravery gone. I turned my gaze to Link as saw terror in his eyes as I was picked up by the hair. I shrieked, kicking at Ganondorf, but he simply laughed as his electricity flowed through my body. Every muscle in my figure seized, and I fell to the floor once more as Link was hacking away at Ganon within seconds.

I lied there for a bit, expecting immense pain, but none came. Flabbergasted, I watched the Master Sword strike Ganon time after time, but no blood was being shed. Link even took a few blows, and after a moment of recovery, they were at each other's throats as if nothing had happened. It was a mindless notion; everyone was seemingly stuck in a rooted mindset to attack until death or submission was met, but none came as no one was truly being injured. The electricity that had coursed through my body seconds before left just a slight tingling in the tips of my limbs.

 _This has to be a dream of some sort,_ I thought, crawling back into a standing position. No matter the evidence of the absence of harm, it hurt me to see Link in combat with his mortal enemy once more. I felt a dark, menacing aura rise within me.

" _Even more of the goddess's power will be discovered inside."_

In my hands formed a ball of shadow magic, and with an forceful thrust, I summoned a great, phantom swordsman that swept in between Link and Ganondorf, blocking Ganondorf's next hit.

"I am not finished yet," I seethed, but as Link turned to face me, frustration yet gratitude in his gaze at my assistance, a dark blade was thrust through his chest from behind.

My jaw dropped, a silent scream trying to express the pain that erupted inside me. Link looked down at the protruding sword where his heart would be, motionless.

"Ahaha! I've always wanted to do that!" A shadowed figure stepped to the side from behind Link, hand still gripped on the dark blade. "The assistants and clones have arrived. Miss me? Well _you personally_ wouldn't know me princess, but maybe a past life of yours." I stared in shock at yet another replica of my Link, but instead of another legend, it was a dark and sinister shade of my hero. Ganondorf laughed a crude below that chilled my bones even further. The dark Link pulled his blade back out of Link's chest and I ran to him as he fell to his knees.

"Oh please, you big drama queen. Remember that special system they talked about? I barely hurt you," the shadow laughed at Link, cutting Ganon's happiness short.

He was right. There was no blood, only pure disbelief as Link ran his hands across his chest, completely unscathed. He looked into my eyes for answers, but all I could provide was a blank, existential crisis.

Before anymore chaos could occur, the hands were back, floating over us ominously. "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Master Hand boomed, cutting the fight off. "Now that you are all acquainted once more, we can't forget about our assistants right? I promise it's the last wave of people to flood our little mansion. Look around you and find the rest of your friends. Like I mentioned before, we shall have circle time in a little bit." The hands started sweeping from side to side, popping a very large ring of chairs into existence that circled the entire ballroom, little bits of confetti accompanying their magic.

Link and I glanced to the side to see that Ganondorf had left us entirely. We were of no interest anymore evidently, now that we could not be harmed. I tried to avoid the shadow Link's gaze, but it wasn't hard since he just stood, composed awkwardly with his arms crossed and gaze trying to fixate on something other than us.

Yet one last thing caught Link's attention. Visibly, his emotion shifted immensely as I saw water collect in his eyes, and I turned to see a face I was worried I'd never see again.

"Link?" Midna stood before us, a dark tear streaming down her cheek. Her form was true and expression all the same.

Link got to his feet, slowly, disbelieving. I hadn't been long since he had last seen her, but it was the notion of nevering seeing her again that he had settled upon, and clearly, it was blown out of the water.

I followed suit, standing next to him as his hands began to shake a little and his lips trembled into a smile.

"Link I-" Midna muttered before he flung himself into her arms. His face was buried into her shoulder and I saw an enormous weight life from his person. She held him back, another tear escaping. I found myself standing awkwardly once again before a beautiful friendship where I was never quite a part of.

Link finally pulled away, asking, "Why are you here? How… are you here?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know _how_ I'm here but I got this invite to come assist the 'greatest heroes of all time' or something and I thought you might be involved. I just decided to find out."

I could only watch as their connection was slowly igniting once again like two familiar souls wandering in the never-ending maze of existence, completing each other's void for companionship.

 **A/N: Ohai again! Hope you all enjoyed that roller coaster. It was fun to write. Let me know what you thought! Have a fantastic day and check me out on FB if you get the chance. Love ya! 3**


	6. Chapter 6

Entry Six

A Meeting of Fate

"It is great to see you again," I voiced, stepping up to the reunion, smiling.

Midna returned the expression, and said, "Hello Princess Zelda." I was a little surprised to actually receive a quick hug from her as well. Link could not hide his elation.

"Take a seat please! There should be enough for everyone." Master Hand called, whirling around overhead. I was still trying to solve whether or not if all of this was a dream. In my daze, the three of us took our seats, Link in the middle. On the other side of me sat a small girl that seemed older than a mere child, yet was still a natural caricature. She was staring at me, yet when I looked to her, she glanced away in embarrassment and swung her little feet back and forth since she was too short for her legs to fully reach the ground.

"Hello there," I said, nearly startling her.

She whirled her head around to look at me, a light blush on her cheeks. "H-hi, Missus."

"What is your name?" I urged, trying to make her a little more comfortable; I had no one else to talk to otherwise, as Link was too busy catching up with Midna.

"S-sassy. My name is Sassy."

"That is a nice name." Her cheeks only darkened at my words and she began to twiddle her thumbs.

Yet somehow, she was able to initiate the next question. "Missus, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why are you so pretty? You look like a queen."

It was my turn to blush just a might. "Why thank you Sassy. You are pretty close actually, as I am the princess of my kingdom."

"Wow, a princess!" She giggled, easing up even more. "Sometimes I wish I was a princess."

I grinned, and muttered, "Well it can be difficult at times."

She fiddled with her striped shirt, looking as if there was more to say, but we were interrupted by Master Hand. "Alright fighters and assistants, listen up. This will take forever to introduce yourselves individually, so we provided handouts for all of you to read up on each other's brief biographies. We placed a copy on each of your beds. Sound good? Good."

Crazy hand continued, snickering, "Try not to be weirded out. The boss is very observant."

I narrowed my eyes at that comment.

"ANYWAY!" Master Hand butted back in. "After a brief explanation of our rules and plans, we will release you to your rooms. Men, follow the left staircase, and the woman are on the right."

I looked to the large staircase at the back of the room that split into two. As I was able to observe a tad more closely, I noticed that the mansion was quite beautiful and very, very large, almost like my palace back home.

He continued, "You need not worry about your life back home, for when we return you, it will be as if you never left."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Something about being told that we were returning home was more comforting than I expected. I mean, if I had stopped to think I would have assumed I was not staying here forever, but with the events that had taken place, how was I to _truly_ know?

"Not even your closest friends will have noticed your absence!" Crazy Hand confirmed.

' _Once you leave, time will stand still.'_

I shuddered a little as my ancestor's words whispered to me in the cracks of the conversation.

"Now this may seem cruel or unusual, but we brought you here for a couple of reasons. First off, we want to test your strengths. A tournament will be held, and the one who wins will receive riches beyond belief," Master Hand announced.

A murmur erupted through the circle.

"I know! Exciting isn't it? The other reason, our main reason for this, is to see who is ultimately protecting our universe. As you may have noticed, you all hail from very different worlds, ones we are fond of. There are sinister things at work in the depths of each galaxy, and before the heroes jump down my throat to say 'well why did you invite all of these villains,' well the answer is quite obvious. Crazy Hand and I remain neutral to who rules the worlds we travel between and reside in, as long as they are still standing. Heck, we have even challenged some of you before, whether you remember or not. Maybe in a past life? Maybe just yesterday? Ask around, I am sure some of you remember battling two giant hands. Not a very common thing. We let you win of course."

Crazy Hand laughed at this, hysterical. Master Hand let him finish his interruption and went on to say, "These 'sinister things' I mentioned are not aware of this gathering. We simply ask that you take some time to allow us to help you and train you. This event is supposed to be fun, harmless, and useful. You will return unscathed to the exact minute you left. One of you may even have some money in your pocket. With that being said, since we have control of time and space over this facility and the surrounding areas, and since no one can be harmed physically, do not even try outside of brawling hours. If there is any type of harassment, you will be dealt with and possibly returned to your world where we picked you up, memories wiped."

"THAT GOES FOR YOU VILLAINS!" Crazy Hand added loudly, pointing at the dark ones.

"So what do you say Smashers? Are you willing to stay for a little while and help ease our insecurities and better yourselves? There is literally no downsides to this for you, except maybe having to get along with some people you aren't very fond of. Hey, who knows? Maybe some unsuspecting friendships will happen, further benefiting your world. One thing I do personally apologize for is how we got you here, but under the circumstances, there would have been no other way besides force which is rather rude," Master Hand said.

"And what if we don't want to stay here?" a confident spirit challenged. I turned to see Samus, standing in front of her chair with her arms crossed.

Master Hand froze and slowly turned to her. If he had a face, I'm almost sure there would be a frown upon his lips. Yet he spoke with the same tone, "It is all about the alliances in any war is it not?"

"You promised no danger," another person called. An intimidating figure in all grey sat fiddling with something in his mouth that let off a smoke of some sort. He seemed like a gruff veteran of war.

"There is no danger, but this exercise is to ensure a strong, unseen bond within the forces of our universe if there were to ever be a war. We are interdimensional travelers who care for the places we visit, whether we are seen often or not."

"We take on many disguises, you know, but being giant hands is just too much fun!" Crazy Hand interjected.

Master Hand continued, "If you stay here to help us, we will help you out if your world is ever to be endangered by other travelers who wish to harm you. We've seen them take on other places, and the result is devastating."

"Who are these bad travelers?" a small boy in a red cap asked.

Master Hand hesitated just a little with that question. "They are similar to us but only wish to destroy what they can't have. We just want to live in peace next to everyone else's business. It's a shame there is more of them than us, otherwise there would not be an issue.

Samus spoke again, "If there is so many of them, why have we not seen said beings?"

"Smart question. I cannot answer that completely, but they have taken the lives of many in the worlds they did get their hands on, hence why I couldn't have some of the representatives from even more places."

Crazy Hand blurted, "Yeah. They're all dead now."

There were more intense whispers through the crowd, and I felt Link pat my knee reassuringly. I had nearly forgotten he was there.

"So," Master Hand spoke with finality, "Samus, I implore you at least sleep on it. I assure that you will probably feel differently in the morning." The bounty hunter frowned. "I'm getting tired and it seems to be getting late in the day by my internal clock. Crazy Hand likes to party, however. Go get set up in your rooms and meet back here in an hour for refreshments and some fun. We start training in the morning."

With that, Master Hand warped away, and we were left with the insane twin. Crazy Hand laughed and magically rid of the chairs out from under our rumps, saying, "Move along to your rooms now. You're in my way. If you want a party I need some space to set up. Now get!" We all landed with a thud. Groans of protest could barely be heard over Crazy's laughter. He was quite annoying in my opinion.

We all meandered to the stairs. I stayed close to Link until we had to part. He could see the hesitation in my gaze, but he gave an assuring nod as Midna led me away. "Come on  
Princess. Show him you can take care of yourself for once," she muttered, not looking back. The comment stung a little but I tried to pay no heed.

The women shuffled awkwardly through the hall, some stopping at their own doors labeled with their names. There was so many of us, I had to round the corner to reach my own room. Midna kept walking without a word when I stopped. My door held a sign with my name on the left, and on the right was none other than Samus. I stood, waiting for some sort of signal to just turn the knob. I don't know what caused the hesitation, but it was simply one of those moments in life where my brain just shuts down. Being alone didn't help.

Finally a voice behind me urged me onward. "Well, are you going in or not?"

I glanced over to see Samus tapping her foot behind me impatiently. "Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment there."

"Uh huh. Just go in."

I obeyed and stepped into a bedroom that was nearly the same size as mine from home, except there was a duplicate set of everything. Two beds, two dressers, two closets, two lamps of some sort, yet only one strange box that sat on the floor below the lamps. Samus stepped in behind me and plopped down onto the bed. "At least we got a mini fridge," she said, staring at the strange box.

"A what?" I pondered.

"You've got to be kidding me, right? Are you that ancient? Whatever. Well I'm going to take a nap. Wake me in an hour when said to meet downstairs. Or don't. I don't really care," and with that, she fell silent, her back to me, long blonde hair falling over the bedside, weapon still in hand.

Great. I was alone with my thoughts once more. The temptation to infiltrate the men's section was strong, or even find Midna, but something inside me told me to stay put and suffer through the hour. I simply sat and began to read up on everyone's information in the packet I was given. So many people...

 **A/N: Hey guys I'm back! Sorry my chapters will be spaced apart more than I'd like them to be. I can't help it with my school priorities, though. Hope you enjoyed and love you all! 3 Stay tuned! I've got plenty of hype coming. Fights, action, sass, sarcasm, romance, jealousy, and any sort of drama you'd expect in a house full of these characters.**


	7. Chapter 7

Entry Seven:

Dances with Evil

I lied there for the hour, trying to comprehend what I was reading, but after what felt like much longer than a mere hour, I began to realize I was staring at the printed words and not comprehending a thing anymore. Reading was one of my hobbies but at a time like this, I was lucky to have gotten halfway through the booklet in the amount of time given. A spike of curiosity nailed itself into my mind and I almost smacked myself for not thinking of it earlier. Quickly, I flipped to the section that held Link and I and gaped as it gave a description of where we were from and a very brief biography on each of us, even Ganondorf. It described him as someone who was 'currently' striving to take Hyrule for himself. I already knew what his plans were, but Link and I prevented them from happening… so why did it say 'currently'?

There was a rustling in the hall, and I knew my hour of alone time was up. Samus still hadn't moved, but when I went to wake her, she muttered, "I'm still awake."

"Oh, my apologies," I replied.

"No need for them." She rolled over and sat up. "You going downstairs?"

I nodded.

"I guess I'll come too."

The two of us kept to ourselves and confidently walked into the scene downstairs. Gathered into a large mob, the smashers stood socializing just a smidge better than the last time. Even the ones marked as enemies stood around with orange colored drinks in hand, surveying their competition.

"Want some punch?" someone erupted behind me.

I moved to see a burly many standing behind us, holding two cups in hand, and smiling sheepishly at Samus in particular, though I couldn't see his eyes, as he wore a helm with a golden bird on the forehead and a matching suit. He glanced slightly at me, but kept his main focus on the bounty hunter.

Samus sized him up and replied, "Only if my friend gets some too."

Before I could decline, the wall of a person handed both cups to us. "Here, take mine too. I can always get more."

"Name?" Samus asked as she sipped the liquid. I stared at mine for a bit before doing the same. It was sweet and citrusy. 'Punch' was not something I knew of, but I liked it. It was also oddly relaxing.

"Douglas Falcon, but you can call me Captain Falcon. I prefer that title actually. Douglass is an old family name anyway," he responded. "And you are?"

"Samus Aran. And this is Princess Zelda of Hyrule."

He seemed nearly startled, uttering, "My apologies, Princess. I didn't know." He dipped his head low with one hand on his chest.

"No need, no need," I said, bowing back. It was rather disappointing in life to be suddenly noticed when someone realizes you are royalty.

Randomly, an odd sort of music exploded into the air and we all turned to find Crazy Hand hovering over a foreign machine. "How about some tunes?" he roared. "AHAH! I'm out. Enjoy yourselves, and make sure to try my special punch. Seeya!"

Crazy warped out of the room, leaving us with strange, clunky music and cute, little orange creatures that marched around, serving us the sunset-colored drink. The penguin-like man from before seemed to be encouraging them. Many of the smashers gratefully took the refreshments and some even began to dance, Sassy amongst them. She gleefully whirled around with the boy in the red cap, causing a small smile to crack across my previously blank expression.

"Care to dance, ladies?" Captain Falcon inquired.

"Not really my thing," Samus stated, looking past him to a bar where the grey veteran from before sat and a few others.

I was about to feel sorry for him, as I didn't really plan on taking part in such an activity when a girl from behind butt-in, nearly shouting, "I'll dance with ya!" She looked similar to Peach, yet had short brown hair and donned a dress that matched the punch. At least if she spilled any, it wouldn't show. "Hi! I'm Daisy." She held out a gloved hand and beamed, causing Captain Falcon to smirk and nod a farewell to use as he was swept into the crowd of dancers.

Samus could sense my unease as I scanned the multitude of faces. "Need help finding him?"

I shook my head slightly and sipped my drink. "No, I think I shall be alright. Thank you."

The bounty hunter nodded and simply strode to the bar, her heeled boots tapping against the floor. Setting my empty glass on a tray that the servants carried, I wandered into the crowd. It was a difficult task to maneuver through the mass confusion; I was getting bumped into left and right, and as I predicted, someone's foot caught mine and I started to tumble before a flash of blonde hair caught my arm from behind.

"Oh thank you, Link." I laughed a sigh of relief, but when I turned to meet his blue eyes, they were not Link's. I blushed under the threat of embarrassment, "Oh, sorry, sir. I thought you were someone else."

"You know Link?" the young man asked.

"Yes. Do you?" I wondered.

"Aye, I room with him I suppose. My name is Shulk."

"Oh that makes more sense," I chuckled.

He smiled at me sheepishly, a blush starting to match mine. "I suppose the ears should have given it away for me."

I touched their tips subconsciously. "I do suppose we are the only ones with 'odd' ears here…"

His next statement made the flush in my cheeks intensify. "Well I find them rather charming."

"T-thank you," I stuttered.

He just smiled and after a moment of silence, asked, "Would you like to dance? Or were you in a hurry?"

I bit my lower lip a little, considering. His genuine smile was comforting and I started to ease up a little, yet I still surprised myself when I took his hand and let him lead me away. He was rather decent at copying the odd movements the other smashers were producing. I stood awkwardly for a moment, until he urged me to try.

He nearly had to shout, "Just try it. I know it's not formal, but let the rhythm take over. Move your body to the beat!"

I nodded and with one hand, gripped my dress, pulling it up just enough to reveal my boots underneath so I would not trip. Copying him, I began to jump and shuffle with the music, embarrassed at first as I knew for sure I was a horrible dancer in this area, but as he laughed and began to clap, I couldn't help but fall ill to his contagious chuckles.

Through the whirl of the party, the minutes went faster and faster until my sweat and tire indicated that I really was having a decent time at this social. Everything was so strange. New faces, new places, new food, new atmosphere, and thankfully I hadn't seen Ganondorf yet…

Ganondorf.

Link.

I needed to tell him about what was said in the packet I was given.

I motioned for Shulk to stop and come to an area where I could speak to him without being so disrupted. "Shulk," I uttered, panting, "Can you help me find Link now? There is something I should speak with him about."

Shulk nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Sure thing, Zelda."

We wandered around the entire ballroom, together, yet the only amount of green I could find was Luigi and the little dinosaur that accompanied him.

"That's odd," Shulk muttered. "He left when I did."

"Did he find a tall, blue-skinned woman when you both arrived?" I figured finding Midna was his first priority.

"No, but I did see a flamboyant dude in a white, skin-tight suit and red cape pull him aside to ask a question. I figured he'd catch up with me later but never did."

I swallowed. I knew not of such a being but something felt very, very wrong...

"What if we split up and cover more area of this room? I'll even check the men's side of the mansion to see if he went back to the room. Meet at the bar in a quarter of an hour?" Shulk proposed.

"That sounds like a better idea than wandering around the same areas. I suppose I should shove my way through that crowd," I sighed, narrowing my eyes at the mass of dancers.

"I have faith you'll make it out alive."

"Your confidence in me will get you into trouble."

"Well if you die, I get your crown for keeps."

"Your satire is also impeccable."

Shulk just laughed and waved a farewell as he wandered to the stairs.

As I shoved my way through the crowd, I was trying to decide if he had figured out I was a princess. The way he treated me, it didn't seem so, yet my attire usually gives it away. Yet maybe it's a common thing where he's from. But he recognized my diadem as crown… I decided to stop overthinking things and just keep looking for Link.

I shouldered my way into the dancers, receiving a few dirty looks in the process. I stopped in what I felt was the center of the crowd. The faces around me glanced in my direction, probably confused as to why some random girl decided that standing in the middle of a pit of gyrating dancers was a good idea.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a fleeting flash of green and immediately headed in that direction. Once again, I ended up tripping, but there was no one to catch me this time as I tumbled to the ground. Puffing my brunette locks out of my face, I caught a glimpse of a brown boot rounding the corner into a hallway. I sprung back onto my feet and chased after him, yet who I met was not Link at all.

A short little imp child stood in front of me, tapping his brown shoes on the ground and fidgeting with a brightly-colored mask attached to his face. He giggled, motioning for me to follow him. Despite the chill creeping up my spine, I wandered after him down the hall, through a pair of large doors, and into an empty seating area. Empty except for a large, dark silhouette that sat, facing away from me on a sofa. It was at that moment that I had realised the spine tingle from earlier was a warning from my instincts I so blatantly ignored. Yet still, I dared to turn and leave.

"Princess, I know you're smarter than that. We wouldn't want to make a scene would we?"

I frowned at the back of Ganondorf's head. "Is that a threat?"

"What? You going to run to Master Hand?" Ganon chuckled at me, triggering a justifiable anger under my skin.

"Yes."

He stopped laughing and stood up to face me, glaring. The little imp ran to his side and tugged on Ganon's cape, and in return for leading me here, he received an orange rupee.

"Now leave us, Skull Kid" The Dark Lord demanded.

With a giggle, he hobbled out of the room. I didn't break eye contact with Ganondorf, yet every second that passed by, my heart began to collapse in on itself with every beat. His amber gaze spoke of wrath, vengeance, and hate, all aimed towards me.

Placing his hand behind his back, yet keeping the same face, he stated, "Princess, I have simply brought you here to deliver a message to you and to you alone. I know who that little tree fairy is who brought you here. I've lived enough lives to remember his face. It is a shame I can't end this here and now with this 'spell' these imbecile hands have put over this place, yet I have a feeling talking will do just fine. I don't know how you escaped my clutches, but when we are placed back into Hyrule, I will personally make sure your hero will perish… at your hands."

 **A/N: Oh snap things are happening. What do you guys think so far? I hope you are enjoying Zelda's experiences as much as I enjoy writing them. You can also find me on Zelda - Holder of Wisdom on FB. Have a fantastic day and onto chapter 8! Wow it's 8 already... ^.^**


	8. Chapter 8

Entry Eight

Meaningless Threats

My lower lip quivered and I furrowed my brow, trying to process how this dead man was going to come back to life when I returned home and force me against my hero once more, sword blazing. I had already lost control of my consciousness once, a sacrifice necessary to save Midna and the rest of the world. I'll never forget that loss of control, the utter guilt of watching your own hands attempt the strangle the only hope for life through the haze that is left of your own mind. If it were to ever happen a different way… if the only way to win was to kill me, than I would wish for death rather than kill him…

"Does this bother you?" Ganon laughed, seeing my pain. "It should, and it how ironic it would be for the hero to die at the sword of the woman he longed to rescue! Now that would be a twist in the story, don't you agree?"

I felt the tears start coming again and gritted my teeth.

"It's only fair. I was locked away for ages because of that wretched Hero of Time. It's a shame I can't rid of all of you while I'm here. What has been done in the past is done, and to aid my future success, I am a patient man, yet I am also merciful. I'll make a deal with you, right here, right now. When we return and the hero arrives on my doorstep, call him off, and if you tell him to never return, I will spare him and maybe keep you alive as a slave. Deal?"

Before I could respond, something in my brain clicked, and it all made sense. Master Hand and his brother were able to pluck us from our homes and bring us to an interdimensional time that exists outside of reality. If what they said is true, and we will be returned to our homes right when we appeared here, and Ganondorf is still alive AND he thinks I am still within his clutches, than they must have pulled him from a time where all of this could be possible. The pamphlet said he was currently trying to enslave Hyrule, and as a matter of fact, he is, in his reality. Putting myself in his boots, I pictured myself sitting upon the throne, captured princess hanging from the goddesses statue overhead, waiting for Link to stride into the great hall. Everything that Ganondorf promised to do to me has already happened. My body had already been taken over. The battle had already been fought. My past self doesn't know that my future self was the influence of Ganondorf's decisions in the final battle, yet no matter what happens here, Hyrule is safe from the Dark Lord no matter what.

"No," I stated, "because you have already lost." I turned around without another word and left the shaded room. I half-expected him to grab me from behind, but he never did.

Keeping my emotions on the down-low, I wandered to the bar where Shulk was standing, conversing with Link. Relief flooded over me, but I pretended nothing was wrong.

"Princess Zelda! Are you alright?" Link inquired.

"Yes, I just had something to tell you is all, Link. Thank you, Shulk, for your assistance," I said to them.

"Anytime, Princess Zelda," Shulk answered, giving a quick bow and wandering away to give us some time to chat. For surely now he knows I'm royalty, yet seems comfortable with it.

Link turned to me, "What did you need to tell me?"

I glanced around us, imagining that Ganondorf would be standing right behind me, waiting for me to spill the information, yet the only souls sitting at the bar were Samus and the man she was eyeing earlier, deep in other conversations. They were seated far enough away that Link and I were only interrupted by the bartender.

"Hello!" A sweet little voice churred,

I looked to see where it came from, but saw no one behind the counter until a puff of yellow peeked over the edge.

"Hi there! Sorry, I am on bar duty tonight but this counter is too tall for me, so I need a step stool. I'm Isabelle! Can I get you anything?" The little tender asked. She seemed about Sassy's size and was also… a puppy. In a sweater and a skirt.

Link and I both declined, so she climbed back down on the ground and went to tend to cleaning the glasses.

My hero turned to me expectantly, elbow on the counter to hold up his head. I could see the exhaustion that had accumulated in his eyes from the day we had just endured, so I decided to make it quick. "I have a bit more information on Ganondorf."

His eyes widened a bit and he sat up straighter.

I continued, "I figured it out. When he returns to Hyrule, it will be possibly moments before you and Midna walk into the throne room. That is when Master Hand chose to bring him here, at his most powerful. When we return to our time, he will still be dead. Link, when we fought him, this tournament had already taken place for him." I explained the pamphlet and told him everything else I knew except for my most recent encounter. He need not be stressed anymore than he was already. Ganondorf's threats weren't empty since they came true, but they were now meaningless.

"Are you positive about all of this?" Link asked.

"Yes. It is the only option that makes sense." His words made me nervous, however. What if I was wrong? What if we returned to a mess even worse than we had faced mere months ago? If so, I just poked the boar with a large stick.

I needed to change the subject. "Shulk told me you were pulled aside by a man in a white, skin-tight suit. What was that about?"

Link frowned. "I'm not entirely sure myself. He wanted help looking for his Pikachu, so he led me around and we checked everywhere, but the only Pikachu here is the one that belongs to Red. His name is Ghirahim though, so I did learn that I suppose. He didn't really seem like a Pokemon trainer like the other kid, but how would I know?"

Swallowing hard, I realized that he must be one of Ganon's other accomplices, needing to distract Link to surely get to me. I didn't mention this however; I simply mentally noted it as something to watch for.

"Where is Midna?" I also pondered, getting the last of my questions out.

"I haven't seen her either. Maybe she stayed in her room?"

As if on cue, a snarky chortle came from the seat I was facing away from. "Not that you'd want to see me right now."

I turned to find Midna sulking, chin resting on the counter and little legs dangling. I was taken aback by the fact that she was cursed once more, donning her imp form.

"What happened?" I demanded.

She huffed, "Just finished talking to Master Hand after he requested my presence. They want me in this form and were able to curse me themselves."

"Against your will?" I cried.

"Well, sort of. Master Hand said it is the only way I can stay here, or he will send me back if I refuse. I'd simply like to know how they got there hands on THIS!" she seethed, pointing to the Fused Shadow on her head. "It evidently 'completes the ensemble.' I thought Ganondorf had destroyed it for good. I never found it after the final battle, nor did I really want to."

Link seemed the most disgusted of all. "You shouldn't have to do this, Midna. We know how much you hated being an imp."

Midna giggled, "The funny thing is, I don't really care. I'm over it. I may be a simple 'assistant' to this whole operation, but I'm here to help you guys. I can't thank you enough for what you did for me and the Twilis, and besides, you need me." Winking, she giggled again and floated over so that she hovered between us. Blushing, the Twilight Princess added, "And I missed you two…"

I couldn't help but smile.

Link did as well, adding, "Well, if you're alright with it, I don't mind that much either. Just like old times?"

"Yeah I guess, except you're not fluffy anymore." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he began to blush again.

I chuckled. It truly was good to hear her sass once more.

"Besides," she added, removing the Fuzed Shadow and transforming into her regular self, landing in Link's lap, "They rigged it so that if I take it off, I'll change back."

Link's blush deepened even more until she placed it back onto her head.

The three of us decided to leave the party early, for all of this nonsense was becoming too overbearing. After climbing the stairs together, Link nodded a genuine farewell before departing. Midna and I walked back (well she sort of floated) to our rooms without much conversation. The calm was something we all needed.

Entering my room, I was also happy to find that Samus was still downstairs. This will possibly allow for falling asleep rather quickly. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to light the room, as I was used to manually lighting candles and torches instead of have a lever do it for me. Their technology was interesting and rather convenient. Yet as I began to remove my jewels, I realized there was an issue: I had no other clothes or any place to put my valuable belongings. My last resort was the closet on my side of the room. Opening it, I gasped, yet again unable to process the intelligence of Master and Crazy Hand. Lined up neatly in the closet as if it were my own wardrobe were multiple dresses and other articles of clothing. The dresses were all identical to mine but in different colors. There were even separate jewels to match. Attached to one of the dresses was a note that read: - _If you need anything from your homeland, write a note and give it to Isabelle, our secretary. We can retrieve nearly any personal item you desire. That can fit in a closet. Just be sure to say 'please' and 'thank you.' The front desk will be set up in the morning. There is extra paper and supplies there. Also, be sure to check your fridge and closet. We stocked some food up for you._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Master and Crazy Hand-_

I looked to the shelf above the clothes. On it sat baskets of bread and fruits and other items like blankets and bandages. Deciding to check the fridge as well, I was greeted with a sweet little bouquet of roses seated on top. The contents on the inside of the fridge contained bottles of wine, cheeses, more fruits and dried meats, some other items I did not recognize, and actuall Lon Lon milk. Rather surprised at the rare item, I popped the cork off and took a sip. It was sweet, fresh, and even treated with a special substance that made it true Lon Lon milk: alcohol. I decided not to abuse it and rushed back to the closet. I shuffled through the clothes until I located my favorite nightgown. Aside from being creeped out that they were able to take all of these things, I threw of my dress and slipped into the beautiful, comfy fabric. Yet one last thing caught my eye before I retired into my bed. On the floor, under the dresses, sat the bag of mine that had been attached to Epona's saddle, my sword inside.

It took my brain a little while to calm itself completely, but soon enough, I was dead to the world and all its inhabitants as sleep took over me.

 **A/N: Ooo things are getting a bit tense. Thank you all for bearing with me and my busy schedule! Hopefully I can keep this constant flow up, but I have a concert this weekend and a paper coming up soon so I don't expect too much productivity from myself this weekend :/ I HAVE started on ch 9, however. Let me know what you think so far and I hope everything is making sense! I am trying my absolute best to be thorough and not throw out those 'because of reasons' cop-outs. Check me out on FB like I have said before! (Zelda - Holder of Wisdom) I'm easier to talk with there since I'm ALWAYS on ;P Have a fantastic day and feel free to leave a review! 3**


	9. Chapter 9

Entry Nine

Power Within

Unfortunately, when wake up call happened, I felt as if I had only been asleep for a few minutes. Even Samus's entry hadn't budged me, and for once in my life, my deep need for sleep had chased away the nightmares. The loud, booming voice of Master Hand rang down the halls as he told us to get up, bathe, get dressed, and report into the ballroom in an hour. Dragging myself out of bed, I wandered over to my closet out of instinct, but paused for a moment.

"If they want us to bathe, is there supplies for bathing?" I asked Samus, who was nearly out the door.

"Like soap? Check the bottom of the closet. There should be a bag with soap, shampoo, and that sort of stuff. Don't forget a towel," and before I could ask anymore, she left. I kneeled down and dug around until I found said bag next to a handful of towels. Taking the supplies I needed and my dress, I caught up with Samus in the hall. Surprisingly, she too, was wearing a silk nightgown. I didn't expect something like that from a seemingly calloused bounty hunter.

"Thanks for all of your help so far," I chimed as I followed the rest of the girls into the large shower room.

"Of course," Samus said.

We wandered down the corridor seemingly on the way to where Midna's room was located, but veered right instead of left. What I was met with took me by surprise. There were faucets lined up in rows separated by stall doors that were definitely not tall enough. Thinking back on it, expecting separate private rooms for each of us to bathe in was impractical. In reality, I wasn't sure how it was going to be possible for all of us, but now I see how, and it's not appealing. I stopped dead in my tracks in the entryway next to a few other apprehensive girls.

Samus kept waking, saying, "Oh, come on now you Sissies. Haven't seen a sports shower before? Well I do suppose most of you are princesses. Get used to it because there is no other way."

Midna nearly bumped into us from behind, donning her true form. "Whoah, what? What's the hold up? Wait, what?"

"Come on guys! It'll be fun! Just don't think too hard about it." A woman with long, green hair stepped into the shower and they both started preparing themselves.

The younger, smaller girls flocked to a separate row of showers, leaving the rest of us to follow Samus.

Great.

I wandered into the stall across from Samus, Midna on my right and a blue-haired woman on my left. The stalls were tall enough so that mostly just our heads were visible, yet I still felt violated. Slamming the door behind me, I stripped off my nightgown and tried to ignore everyone, yet of course, some of them just had to make conversation.

The green-haired one spoke, "So ladies, at least in our sector of the showers, I want to know each and every one of your names before I leave. Mine's Palutena, Goddess of Light."

I was startled. This was not the Goddess of Light from my land. In fact, I knew exactly who that was, yet I decided to let this play out and observe.

I fidgeted with the shower knob until I was blasted with cold. Unfortunately it took longer than I would have preferred to warm up.

Daisy started immediately, "Hi! My name is Princess Daisy."

"And I'm Princess Peach."

"And I am Princess Rosalina," The other blonde next to Daisy voiced.

"I suppose I am a Princess too. Call me Lucina," the blue-haired one announced.

"Me as well. Twilight Princess. My name is Midna."

Samus laughed, "Well I most certainly am not. Intergalactic bounty hunter, Samus Aran."

"Robin."

"Lyndis."

"Call me Wii Fit Trainer."

"Phosphora, if you must know."

"That leaves you for this side of the washroom, honey. What's your name?" Palutena asked me.

Swallowing, I replied, "Princess Zelda, reincarnated Goddess of Light."

"Wait. Excuse me?" Palutena asked me.

I simply stood tall, letting the water rush through my hair and down my back, locking eyes with her. "We are from different worlds, no?"

She still narrowed her gaze as if this were some sort of joke.

"You can call me Hylia if you wish. I went by that name in past lives according to legend."

"Legend means nothing compared to reality, you know," she huffed, but then smiled. "Whatever you say, Deary. Just know a goddess has a few more perks than a princess."

"And if one is both?"

"Well we will have to see, won't we?" Palutena cheered.

I wasn't sure what to make of all of this, but I was still trying to figure out how to properly work the showers, so I cut myself some slack.

Soon enough, we were all on our way to the ballroom after returning to our dorms to drop off the washroom supplies. I had hopped back into my dress from the day before, equipping the same jewels and all, so the only thing I returned to it's rightful place was my soaps and towel. My hand hovered over my sword, yet there was something telling me to leave it be, a near whisper in my ear. The Triforce glowed on the back of my right hand and my fingertips glowed. I clearly didn't know how to use a blade as well half of the contestants downstairs.

 _Once you accept your challenge, even more of the goddess's power will be discovered inside._

From the inside.

I left the blade behind, grabbed the pamphlet of of the nightstand, and scampered to catch up with the other women.

Following the herd through the ballroom, we stepped into a large dining hall opposite of the seating area I had been tricked into entering last night, and a scrumptious scent wafted past my nose. I had never been so excited for breakfast before in my life. Thankfully, I was able to find Link rather quickly this time and Midna soon joined us as well. The hall was different than I had expected, yet it made sense once I realized the amount of people that needed to fit inside. There were multiple dining tables lined with expensive, red-velvet chairs.

I felt something tug on my dress and turned to see one of the little orange servants motioning for us to follow him to some open seats.

"Those things are absolutely adorable," Midna uttered, as it waddled away. "What are they?"

Link simply shrugged, but I immediately whipped out the booklet and flipped through until I found the information under the penguin-like being know as King Dedede.

"Waddle Dees?" I said. "They are called Waddle Dees."

"Hm. Good idea to carry that around with you," Midna voiced.

"May I sit here?"

I recognized the soft-echoey voice as Princess Rosalina from the showers. I nodded and smiled as she pulled out the chair across from me. As per usual, Link sat on my right and Midna on his right so he could speak to both of us.

"Rosalina, correct?" I asked.

She nodded. "And you are Princess Zelda, or uh, Goddess Hylia?"

Link looked at me sideways, but ignoring him, I answered, "Just Zelda."

She smiled, and all of the sudden, there was a tiny 'squee' as a star-shaped creature peeked onto the table from her lap.

"Oh! And this is Luma, or one of them. The rest are still asleep in my room," Rosalina explained.

The little golden star floated up to her eye level and hugged her face, nestling into the hair that covered one of her eyes. My heart melted a little as he 'purred.'

She giggled, placing him back into her lap. "Momma fed you already this morning. Now it's my turn."

"Princess Zelda!" Young Link pulled himself onto the other chair next to me. "You're okay!" He beamed, short legs swinging back and forth over the edge of his seat.

"Yes, sir, I am still here," I cheered. His presence was a good sort of distracting, as it embodied a legendary power in the form of a small child. I trusted my safety with him, for there was something in his eyes that matched the Hero's Shade's. Yes, they were the same person, but Young Link was not quite as… aged… as the Hero's Shade. I had an urge to tell him about his personal legacy and legend passed through the ages, yet with the tragedy included, I decided to let him enjoy himself while he still can.

Once everyone was seated, the Waddle Dees began to bring out our food. I began to study the individuals I didn't know yet. A large, burly man in a red bandana sat on the other side of Young Link, saying nothing, yet devouring his food without mercy. Ryu was his name, and I decided not to introduce myself.

Onto the table crawled a little, pink puffball.

"Hi!" he cheered, waving at me, and in the few seconds it took me to look up his name, which was Kirby, I giggled a bit when he was already peeking over the table, asking for more. Somehow, Ryu was not the fastest eater here.

As I turned to chat with Link, his attention was already stolen by Palutena who was seated across from him, next to Rosalina.

"And who is this handsome thing?" she cooed, twisting her green hair. Midna and I frowned simultaneously and Link turned red as he muttered his name. Rosalina just quietly observed, a small smirk on her lips. "Link huh? Well hello there. I'm Lady Palutena, true Goddess of Light." She winked.

I gritted my teeth.

"Lady Palutena!" A brunette boy called with angelic wings arched on his back. "I found you!" He set his plate next to hers and sat, beaming.

"Pit! Hey my baby. Did you sleep well?" she answered.

He nodded, digging into his plate.

Finally, our rag-tag group was able to settle in and focus on what was to happen for the day once introductions were aside. None of us really knew what to expect, so we hastily ate and gathered into the ballroom once more. The hands waited for us there, hovering next to a large pair of doors, opposite of the entrance.

Crazy Hand yelled, "Mornin' all! This is where things get interesting. I hope you're warmed up."

Master Hand explained, "Through these doors is where we will allow you to interdimensionallly travel to preset destinations we have set aside for matches and training. Today, we will start with a simple, flat lands for the groups we are dividing you into. When I call your name step forward and be apart of Group A: Samus Aran, Little Mac, Yoshi, Ice Climbers, Sonic, and Link."

I frowned, realizing we were to be separated, but he gave me an assuring nod as he went to stand by a shorter, black-haired man with green gloves.

Master Hand continued, "You will all be sent to the Galaxy arena. Good luck and make sure you get a feel for which moves you wish to focus on the most."

A number of groups were called until I was landed in Group F. My members were Kirby, Roy, a fiery-haired swordsman, Lucario, another Pokemon owned by Red, Falco, a bird-like man who hailed from the same region as Fox McCloud, and Donkey Kong, the large ape that had assisted me in the brawl that had taken place yesterday. Once again, I was ever-thankful for the information packet on all of the fighters.

"Your destination is the Bridge of Eldin. Good luck." Master Hand lead us through the large doors, and I was speechless once more.

We stepped through a sort of portal that brought us a familiar area I feared I would not see again if all went to hell. On the edge of the great Bridge of Eldin we stood, overlooking a large trench, and next to the sunset stood my castle. My home.

"WAIT! What? Where are we? Am I-" I stuttered.

"Home? Sort of. We took surveillanced the area for a while and plucked a day where no travelers could be seen for miles of this bridge. Only upon this specific day can you enter this area. Princess, do not get any funny ideas, for if you step out of the boundaries we have set up, you'll be blown into the re-spawn area. Sorry if this is some sort of mental torture for you, but we needed proper, familiar places for all of you to fight in. I promise you home world is not the only area touched on," Master Hand described, and my heart plummeted a little. "Before I call upon the next group, we have set up numerous sandbags for you to practice up and choose some movesets to focus on while you establish a fighting strategy. I suggest you don't pick too many, as many, many split-second decisions need to be made in the style of how we train you to fight. Take some time for yourself." And with that, the six of us were alone.

"This is your homeland?" A light voice asked from behind. I was met with the red-haired swordsman.

I simply nodded.

"So, I assume you're a princess by the looks of you, so that means… that castle over there is yours?"

I nodded again, getting ever so slightly foggy-eyed by looking at the place which called me from too far away.

Roy bowed respectfully, and after wishing me a sympathetic good luck, wandered away to begin hacking and slashing at the self-regenerating sand bags. Lucario and Falco said nothing when they went about their business, and all Donkey Kong did was nod, awkwardly huffing and grunting at me in some sort of greeting as I'm sure he recognized me before following suit. The only one left was Kirby, who tugged at my dress.

"Poy?" he cooed.

"Hm?" I tore my eyes away from the horizon that glittered in the twilight.

The little puff waddled around on the cobblestone, holding his arms up towards me.

"Are you asking me to pick you up?"

His smiled widened and I abided. He must of sensed something was wrong, for his little imp arms wrapped around my neck and he nestled into me for a hug. I somehow instantly felt better. After he sensed a change in my mood, he hobbled away, whipping out a large hammer and fiercely began pummeling the sandbags.

This truly was a strange situation.

It took a lot of concentration to ignore where we were, but there was times I caught myself daydreaming instead of focusing on the new sorts of powers I had to sort out. One important inference made was that the time the hands had picked seemed to be stuck in some sort of loop, as once the sun reached the horizon, it would start to 'back up.' The clouds would start to move in the other direction and even the birds began to fly backwards. Then once it reached a certain point in the sky, time would return to normal until the sun touched the horizon once more. After I began to receive a headache from the peculiar sight, I tried to focus on training.

The magic I was able to produce had to be applicable to replicate. Unfortunately, as I needed to meditate on the power surging within, I felt as if I were falling behinds the rest's progress, but it had to be done. My sandbag received an assortment of frustrated, pathetic, magicless punches and kicks that barely made any sort of dent. I felt useless in the ways of fighting, as per the usual. It took some time until I was able to replicate the flames in my hands that I had felt out of pure anger when used before, yet what was I supposed to do with it? My punches were weak, and glancing at the competition on all sides of me, I knew I could not do much except maybe burn myself if I wasn't paying attention. At least the magic didn't burn my gloves.

What about the shadow knight I was able to spawn? I didn't even know I was capable of any sort of dark spells. Heck, growing up with no guide to any sort of powers handed down to me through blood and blessing really didn't help either, as my mother had passed when I was little, and my father followed her when I was an early adolescent. Running my kingdom was more important than magic study.

I tried to summon the dark feeling that accompanied the phantom knight, yet I only began to feel sad when thinking of the desperate circumstances I had used him for. Crying out in frustration at my time-wasting, I slammed my palm into the sand bag, and an unexpected fire-burst sent it flying into the back of Roy, who picked himself up, looking at me with confusion and concern. I smiled, and after apologizing, retrieved my training tool and focused on the fierce energy such a move required. After a while, I was able to send volleys of fire left and right. I could nearly feel Din smiling upon me from the twilight-ridden sun. Her fire was true power.

I continued my methods of experimentation until I was able to utilize Din's fire somewhat proficiently and use a form of electricity in my hands and feet. I was not finished with my movesets like some of the other Smashers in my group seemed to be, yet I was able to say I had accomplished _something._

All too soon, lunch approached and we were delivered food. Exhausted, I sat next to Roy who seemed barely winded. Why did the hand think I was even a viable choice? Even Kirby seemed to know what he was doing. All I could do was throw fire at things and hope to not burn the mansion down.

"Your homeland is beautiful," Roy muttered through his chewing, distracting me from my self-loathing.

"Thank you," I replied, soaking the rays of the forever-sunset, wondering what the past-me was attending to in the castle. Maybe this day they had chosen is in the future. How could I even tell for sure? What if I would wake up in my real bed tomorrow? I had to stop overthinking everything, but I knew that would be impossible as well. I sighed, and tore into my sandwich, defeated mentally and physically without even getting punched.

 **A/N: Yay finally done with ch 9! Thanks to those who have stuck with me so far and for being patient. 3 What do you all think so far? This chapter was somewhat filler but a lot of important information was needed plus more characters. It is increasingly difficult to deal with like 70 characters at once... oof. Bare with me for I shall try my best.**


	10. Chapter 10

Entry Ten

Belly of the Beast

After lunch, we spent a few more hours experimenting and meditating on our planned movesets. I was able to locate more of the shaded power that accompanied the phantom knight that I have previously summoned. I was getting close, but not quite enough to summon him completely. I tried not to stay discouraged, however, as Din's Fire was coming along swimmingly, and Nayru even blessed me with a fraction of her love as I began to form a sort of force field around me that broke into magic shards as I shattered it offensively. It was great for deflecting objects and defense against multiple, surrounding enemies. I just needed some guidance from Farore as well, but time ran out for real when Master Hand collected us for the evening meal. Somehow, the day went faster than expected.

Back into the dining hall we went.

"So I've decided besides swordplay of course, to pick my Hero's Bow, Gale Boomerang, and bombs. And clawshot for grappling people I suppose. They would be the easiest to wield," Link explained to me as we chewed our surprising luxurious meal consisting of steak and steamed vegetables. It was a relief to be at his side again, and I could do nothing but hang on every word he said to me. Normally he was rather quiet, but getting to use his skills again seemed to have him a bit hyped up.

"At least you get to use different things," Midna whined. "All I get to do is stand still until someone walks close enough to me for me to grab them with my hand-hair and whip them around."

"At least you do not have to stress about winning," I muttered.

"Winning? As a princess with everything and then losing it all only to regain it again, I can speak on both sides of the spectrum. Why would you want to win?" Midna asked, a little taken aback by my comment.

"I do not mean for the money."

"Then what for?"

I shrugged, not even sure what I meant either. What if the losers met a terrible fate?

"Is everything alright, Princess?" Link wondered.

 _I wish you wouldn't call me that._ "Yes, why?"

"You seem troubled, more than usual anyway."

"I am just concerned about doing well," I said.

"I have to ask as well, why?" Link pressed, and Midna waited for the answer as well.

"I cannot explain it. I just… I do not know."

Link nodded patiently while Midna seemed to lose a bit of interest in the conversation until I stated, "Another part of my mood was the fact that the arena I was in was in Hyrule."

Both of their gazes whipped to me and I explained everything I had experienced.

"That's almost cruel," Midna huffed.

I shrugged, "It is not so bad I suppose. At least I got to see it again." The thought of never returning home dawned on me. What if we were stuck here? "Excuse me for a bit," I said, removing myself from the table and heading off to the restroom on the same level as the dining hall. I just needed a few minutes of silence to recollected my thoughts. Only once before in my life did I ever feel so mentally exhausted; when the War of Darkness had ended, I had thought the rest of my life would pan out rather peacefully. I had never been so wrong…

I rested my arms on the counter, looking at my reflection and allowing my mind to wander.

"Having a staring contest with yourself, are we?"

I jumped a little when a friendly face appeared in the mirror next to mine. She had long, white hair and carried some sort of book with her. It took me a few moments to remember her as Robin.

"Oh I-" I stumbled over my words.

"No worries. This is a stressful time for all of us. Would you mind holding this for me for a second?" She held out her book.

I nodded and then she stepped into a stall to do her business. Quickly my mind debated the impulse to snoop, and something inside me said when given the chance to know who you could be up against, it could save a lot of harm; I quietly scanned a few pages and discovered it was a tome filled with spells. She, too, knew magic.

I closed the lid as soon as the lock jiggled on the stall door, and to my dismay, Robin inquired as she washed her hands, "Get a good look?"

"I- what?"

She smiled genuinely and laughed, "Oh come now! I know you looked. Besides, there are cracks in the stalls, you know."

Utterly embarrassed, I wasn't sure what to say.

"Why, might I ask?"

"I am sorry. I just figured getting to know my enemies was a smart strategy in any battle."

"Wise words, except why do you consider me an enemy?" Robin frowned.

"No, I mean… Ugh it has never been so hard for me to find my words until lately. I am just trying to understand all of this and be prepared as much as possible for what is to come," I explained. "I have no idea why I was chosen, nor do I feel worthy."

Robin smiled, "I think you are worthy."

"How could you know?"

"Well for one, even though I can see a small amount of fright in your eyes, it's the way you carry yourself. Not many who experience inconfidence can hold their head so high, even if it's faked."

"I guess I have had loads of practice."

She continued, "Also, your willingness to help and learn as much as possible seems like something to reckon with. Just keep your head high, and I'm sure you'll do well." She patted my shoulder, her fingertips tapping on my pauldrons. "Now, I should get back to my daughter. It was nice speaking with you, Princess Zelda."

Alone once more, I was a little surprised that she had remembered my name so instantly. Robin seemed like the sort of person that quietly observes and knows more than she lets on. No matter how genuine she came across, she was one to watch out for.

I followed her out of the bathroom to find that most everyone had left the dining hall, including Link and Midna. I ran into the ballroom to find them gathered in front of the large dimensional doors in groups of ten or so. Finding Rosalina, I asked, "What is going on?"

"Some sort of activity to keep us busy? I'm not entirely sure," she pondered.

"Hey! You two! We need to more! Come 'ere!" Someone called from one of the nearest pods. He looked like Pit, except different. He held an air of discontent and sarcasm as his arms crossed challengingly over his chest.

"What's going on?" Rosalina asked as two of her Lumas, one red and one black, fluttered around her had.

"A scavenger hunt or something stupid like that," he scoffed. "The name's Dark Pit, and I swear to Hades if you call me Pittoo I will sew your entire face shut."

"You know how to sew? How convenient. I have some gloves that could use fixing." A blue figure answered.

"Shut up, Sonic." Dark Pit shot back.

Rosalina and I just looked at each other and shrugged, unsure of what to say.

"You losers better not mess this-a up! I want that prize!" A short, round, yellow version of Mario shouted.

"Wario, do you even know what the prize is?" A man I recognized from the pamphlet as Marth.

"No! But I'm sure it's good by tha looks of this place!"

I heard a little scuttling by my feet as I found Pichu trying to bury into my dress. The commotion was frightening him.

After carefully picking him up to comfort, I frowned, asking, "Can someone please explain what we are supposed to be doing?"

A kid in a blue, metal suit stepped forward, "We are waiting for further instruction, Princess Zelda."

Someone has also been reading the information packet. Our entire team consisted of me, Rosalina, Dark Pit, Wario, Mega Man, Pichu, Sonic, Marth, Diddy Kong, and Duck Hunt Dog with his bird friend. Judging by the descriptions I had previously read of them, our personalities were very diverse. Whatever we were doing, it was not going to be easy. Finally, I spotted Link on a team with Midna, Samus, Palutena, Lucina, Robin, and a few others. Knowing their personalities, I could already see them winning.

Master Hand appeared overhead and announced, "Alright Ladies and Gents and everything in between! We have an event tonight and it's rather simple: A scavenger hunt! Sounds lame? Well too bad. Our evening events will to keep you all healthy and distracted from the work you all do during the day. No need to stress out and be focused on fighting 24/7. Also, make friends. You'll enjoy yourselves more. Anyway, the rules for this are simple: Divide into teams of ten and come grab a list. Then, you'll be free into our five stages that we've picked for you to head into. Two teams per world at a time to start with."

Marth took initiative to retrieve the list. I had a hard time keeping my attention away from Link and Midna's whereabouts.

 _Stop it,_ I told myself. _Your comfort zone is gone. Get used to it._

"Ugh, are any of you good at riddles?" Marth asked.

"I can try!" Mega Man offered. He took the letter and read aloud, "The first one describes that it is in Palutena's Temple. 'Soft and light is what I am. As I'm falling, I defy gravity. Once given a master, I have since been separated from the fledge and now am forgotten forever.' Hm…" He scratched his head, making a scraping noise.

"Is it an object or a person?" Marth asked.

"I'm so confused," Sonic shook his head.

I heard laughter from Link's group. "This is so easy! I already know the answer, and since it's my temple, we already have a head start," Palutena roared. So to make things worse, or better, depending on how one would look at it, Link's group was to be sent to the same area as my group. I racked my brain for the answer to said puzzle, but nothing came.

I was about to comment on how Palutena seemed to know the answer, so we should follow her, but Dark Pit cut me off with another complaint. "This is so stupid! Why can't we just be allowed to go to our rooms or something!"

"If there is no option, then deal with it," Marth said bluntly.

"Guys let's try to make the most if it!" Mega Man pleaded.

"Get away you filthy monkey!" Wario growled at Diddy Kong when he crawled on the greedy man's back.

Pichu nuzzled into me, shaking a little. This was already a mess.

Before I could say anything, Rosalina tapped me on the back, motioning to the groups. Link's was gone entirely, and the rest were on their way out.

"Hey! Everyone! We have to go. Now!" I said. Thankfully, they abided, and we ran after everyone. The Hands sent us to Palutena's Temple, and I could see why they picked this as one of the locations. Stone walls stretched on either side of me, yet the ceiling was completely subject to the open air and sun. A light, yet sturdy gust of cool air awakened my senses. Even Pichu perched himself on my shoulders, sniffing the fresh air curiously. Ahead, I could see Link's team rushing behind Palutena to find the first object until they disappeared onto a lower level of the palace.

"Palutena know what the first object is, so we should follow her," I concluded.

"Finally! Some useful information," Dark Pit sneered, and with a flap of his wings, led the charge after her. I ran next to Duck Hunt Dog and Rosalina, clutching Pichu to my chest. We climbed down various levels, and corridors, filled beautiful rays of light. I had to admit, her temple was beautiful.

Unfortunately, they must have completed the first task, for I found out by running headlong into Link as we rounded a corner too quickly. I landed flat on my back, and Pichu squealed, struggling to wriggle out of my arms, for he was pinned under Link in my embrace. Scared he would shock me in the chest and Link in the face, I carefully pulled my hands free, letting the little rat go, yet leaving my swordsman and I in an awkward position, everyone staring.

I blushed fiercely, making eye contact with the dazed hero as he began to realize why his landing was so soft. The blood drained from his face at first and he rolled off of me.

"Princess! I'm s-so sorry! I-i didn't see you," he stammered, his blush matching mine.

I let him help me up, reassuring, "It is alright! Do not feel bad."

"Ha-ha! Get up in that!" Bower called from Link's group. Both of us glared at him, making him laugh harder, smoke seeping from his nose.

"Come on!" Palutena protested. "We need to move on."

"As should we," Mega Man agreed calmly.

With one last awkward glance at the green-clad warrior, we were off.

"How did they find it so fast?" Mega Man worried.

"Who cares? We can easily catch up!" Sonic whizzed past me.

"We don't even know what we're supposed to find! Where the heck are you going?" Dark Pit yelled after him, flapping his black wings to catch up, losing a couple feathers in the process. They fluttered in the breeze, distracting Pichu so that he ran into Diddy who shrieked in surprised, and bopped the Pokemon on the head in retaliation. Pichu stood up for himself for once and zapped the monkey in the butt so that the primate hopped onto Wario again, continuing to aggravate the man.

Sighing and rubbing my temples, I tried to think, running the words of the first riddle in my head. 'Light, fledge, defying gravity as it falls…'

Amongst the black feathers produced by Dark Pit, I noticed that one of them was white.

"That is what we need!" I shouted, making everyone jump. I bent over to pick up the white, lonely feather.

"Is that… PIT'S!? GROSS! Also totally unfair. If he figured it out, he doesn't even have to come here!" Dark Pit huffed.

Rosalina disagreed, "I have a feeling the Hands would make sure it has to be found here."

"We should not being worrying so much and move on to the next thing!" Marth added.

Mega Man read the second riddle on the list. "'In the Great Offensive you will find a shard of the sky in a sea of death. Much teamwork will be needed to dive into the belly of the beast."

"Could they get any less descriptive?" Sonic complained.

"Let's just go," Marth said, leading us away and back into the mansion.

The next place we were sent was also very large and full of gorgeous crystals and lava seeping from cracks in the walls. It was such a hosh-posh of things, I was afraid of running into something dangerous. Link's group was long gone, as we were the only ones around.

"Those crystals must mean something about the shard," Rosalina observed.

"But I see no 'beast,'" Marth said, gripping his sword tighter.

Mega Man flicked some lava off of his shoulder. "Watch where you step."

We searched the area until Diddy Kong nearly stumbled over the edge into a sea of lava.

A sea.

"Hold on, everyone," I said, nearing the cliff as well. Just barely could I make out some sort of bubble hovering over the burning lake, but my eyes began to water as if smoke from a beast was forced into my face. "It is a shard, in that bubble!" I pointed.

"How are we supposed to get down there?" Megan Man pondered.

Sonic suggested, "Dark Pit can just fly down there."

"No way! That's too close to the bottom. There is no way I could stop myself fast enough without dying," the dark angel growled.

"We can't die here, remember?" the hedgehog argued.

"Guys look!" Marth interrupted, motioning to Diddy Kong who hung by his feet on a floating platform, clapping his hands.

"There is no way he can hold all of us," Sonic said.

"Monkies are stronger than they seem," I replied, yet agreed.

Marth stepped forward. "No, Diddy and Zelda are right. Wario, you hold the monkey's feet. The rest of us will make a human chain into the belly of the beast."

 **A/N: Hey guys! I'm still as busy as every up until Christmas break but thanks for bearing with me so far! For those of you who follow Zelda - Holder of Wisdom on FB, this entire, pre-edited chapter has basically been up already and I also made the announcement today that this story might pause or slow down just enough so that the December Sm4sh ballot announcements can enter the fray :) Yes! That means Cloud will appear soon and whoever else was invited to come along into the tournament of death ;) Thanks for being patient with me so far and I believe waiting to see who else I need to write for might save some awkward entrances. Best case scenario, I can pretend they were there the entire time and Zelda just hasn't met them yet. Let me know what you think! Have a great Thanksgiving my lovelies 3~**


	11. Chapter 11

Entry Eleven:

A Fall Into Oblivion

"Are you nuts!?" Mega Man roared, waving his arms in exasperation.

"Ugh, for the LAST time we can't die here remember?" Sonic repeated.

"I'd like to see you hop down there and test it out," Dark Pit challenged.

Marth stated, "Which is why we are going with my plan. Come on. We do not have much time." The prince hopped over to where Diddy Kong hung over the edge, Wario reluctantly holding the monkey's feet. The blue-haired swordsman let the monkey grasp his feet as he dangled over the sea of fire. "Come on now. This is uncomfortable."

Mega Man, Sonic, and Dark Pit followed first. I set down Pichu, and after nodding for Rosalina to follow, I leaped over the gap. It looked like they only needed two more people to reach the crystal, and since Duck Hunt and Pichu didn't have much strength or ever the ability to hold onto someone's feet, it looked like Rosalina and I were the only choices.

"Just climb down carefully, Princess, and let Dark Pit hold your feet," Marth called. I was starting to hear the strain in his voice, so I had to hurry. The pair of lumas protested as I climbed over the edge, trying not the grab anyone in a bad spot yet making sure my handholds were secure. I felt sweat gather on my forehead from the heat of the lava and the amount of effort it took to hold on. My upper body strength wasn't my forte.

"Please hold the edge of my dress," I pleaded to Dark Pit as he grasped my feet.

"Aw you're no fun, Princess," He scoffed.

"If you do anything otherwise, I will probably kick you in the face involuntarily. Or voluntarily. Depends on how I feel," I retorted between huffs and puffs.

He simply laughed, yet abided.

Rosalina followed my actions until our challenge was accomplished. "I've got it!"

She called. "Now what?"

"Climb back up, Brainiac," Dark Pit called. His arms began to shake and my heart pattered faster in sync.

"Hurry!" Sonic protested as well.

Rosalina clutched my legs and crawled back up, and I soon followed.

"I can't believe we pulled that off," Sonic panted, lying on the platform as Marth finally crawled back up, arms shaking.

The prince declared, "Good work, team. What's next?"

"We're going to keep going after that?" Dark Pit whined.

"Of-a course we are!" Wario shouted. Diddy 'eeped' in agreement.

Duck Hunt dog caught my attention next as he yapped and growled as the next teamed approached behind us. I frowned as I recognized Ganondorf amongst their squadron.

"Hold onto that shard, Rosalina. We have to go, now," Marth commanded, and we dashed into the opposite direction.

I was happy our group wasn't completely failing as I had previously thought, but winning still seemed to be out of the picture as we were much behind schedule. Thankfully, the next two areas were rather easy, or at least we kept just behind Link's group so not to run into them and just ahead of Ganondorf's group that they didn't catch us either. We found an artillery shell in Shadow Moses Island and a pink flower in Sonic's Green Hill Zone. Last but not least was another temple.

We stepped through the portal into the ruins, and immediately my heart leapt in my chest when I saw Hyrulian etchings in the walls. "This is from my homeland!" I exclaimed. "I do not know where this is, but these are symbols of my people."

"Great," Marth said. "You are already a big help with the riddles, so this should be easy."

"Wait, are we in the sky?" Dark Pit wondered. "Are you sure this is not part of Sky World?"

It was strange, indeed, as we were suspended on an island in the sky. Ancient legend tells of people who once lived in the clouds, but no one I know has ever stepped foot up there besides Link himself.

"Come on guys! The next clue is 'Useless is the weapon without me, for my point would pierce the armor of many men and without me, a simple stick would do no harm. Ancient places still keep me, for my material will last throughout ages,'" Mega Man recited quickly, unconcerned with where we actually were.

"Look everyone! We still have a chance to win!" Rosalina announced, pointing towards our fellow group who wandered around, frantically searching high and low for the next object.

"Fantastic!" Wario sneered. "Quick! Figure it out 'all knowing one,'" he commanded me.

"I do not know the answer yet! Give me time," I shot back.  
Rosalina tried to help. "Well it seems to be part of a weapon like the bullet shell was, so what sort of weapons do you have in your world that could be similar?"

I racked my brain as we wandered hurriedly. Our presence seemed to give Link's group a new sense of urgency as the realized they were falling behind schedule. I passed my hero, giving him an awkward smile and wanting to so desperately ask him if he had any ideas, but tempting him to betray his team would be a terrible thing to do.

Suddenly, it came to me when I began to think of the weapons he used, and I ran back to rest of my own team. I whispered, "I think it is asking for an arrow head!"

Immediately, everyone broke away to begin the search, leaving Marth and I alone.

"That makes a lot of sense!" Marth responded, "but could Link not just use the tip of one of his arrows?"

"Like Rosalina said with Pit's feather, I believe that would be considered cheating," I replied.

"But cheating is my middle name," another voice said all-too-loudly.

I gasped as Dark Link strode up to me, sword drawn.

"What did you discover, Princess?" he demanded. "We would like to win and are becoming rather impatient."

Dark Link's team consisted mosting of shady, nasty looking people including Ganondorf, Wolf, King Dedede, Meta Knight, a version of Samus much like Link's dark counterpart, and a couple of others.

Marth drew his blade, stepping in between. "This is supposed to be a friendly competition. Please back off and figure it out yourself like the rest of us."

The shadow scoffed, "But that's no fun, is it?"

"Princess, go look for the next object. I will guard your back."

I protested, "Marth, I-"

"Just go!"

Following his orders, I dashed onto a lower level, alerting Lucina who forgot about what she was doing and went to check up on Marth. Behind me, I heard the clashing of blades which in turn, fueled the spark of flight inside of me.

"What's going on?" Mega Man yelled as I ran by him, grabbing his hand to drag him with.

"A fight broke out and we need to find that object and quickly," I yelled.

"WOAH! Be careful!" Mega Man held me back, his arm clutching my knees as we nearly tumbled over the inconspicuous drop-off into oblivion. "That was too close." Little pieces of dirt trailed off into the sky.

"I think we should dig around in the soil," I urged. "That is where most arrowheads are found.

We were joined by Duck Hunt who sniffed around, helping us look. One person from Link's team who kept looking instead of fight was Samus, as she copied our strategy. The cries grew more intense and others joined the fray.

"What happened up there?" Samus wondered as she dug in the dirt.

"The team behind us is not so fair," I replied.

"Makes sense, as my personal dark side is with them," she scoffed.

Mega Man finally cried, "I found one!"

Samus looked up, glaring at the dull, metal arrow tip in his hand. "Move over and let me look too!" She pushed forward, nearly knocking him backwards.

I heard Link's voice behind me and whirled around to see him dodging Dark Link's bombs while swiping at Ganondorf. "Mega Man! Take the last piece to Marth and tell him we are finished! He has the rest of the objects!" I yelled, and the little robot in blue nodded, dashing past Samus and I.

As I ran to Link's side, I realized I had made a grave mistake by saying anything out loud at all, for Dark Link shifted his focus to Mega Man, eyes on the prize that was the last item in this ridiculous scavenger hunt.

"Go help him!" Link demanded me, grunting against the weight of Ganon's foot bearing down on the Master Sword. I did turn heel to save my teammate, but Dark Link saw me coming before I could even dish a single Din's fire ball, for his back-kick met my abdomen and I was flung backwards towards Link's side of the brawl. I skidded to the end of the platform, past Ganondorf's feet, and over the edge. Just barely did I catch the corner of the ground, my cries echoing into the sky below. I heard Link angrily struggle to reach me as my feet scraped against the wall. My arm muscles cried out as I had already overused them during our human chain escapade, making my attempts to recover ever-slower.

A blue hunk of metal appeared, stretching out to grasp my hand. Mega Man began to pull me up, but before I could wonder how he got past Dark Link, his head met mine and a foot punted him from behind, throwing us both into the empty air below.

"ZELDA!" Link screamed in terror, barely audible over my own shouts. I kept Mega Man's hand in mine, and suddenly I felt a rush of power course through my veins. Briefly, I glimpsed Link dive over the edge after me, his clawshot connected to the stage, hand outstretched, and with a flash of green, I was propelled upwards as the winds of Farore spun me through the air.

Tragedy clenched my heart when I reached for my hero's hand, inches away, yet the weight of both Mega Man and I was too much, and we lost the upward momentum. Link's helpless expression was the last thing I saw as we fell further and further into the clouds. A red and white blinding flash of light swallowed us, and expecting to slam into the ground, I found myself lying on the ballroom floor next to Mega Man.

"Aw man, you too?" I heard Captain Falcon's voice hover over me as he came into view, hazy, but there.

"Hm?" I muttered, sitting up slowly.

"Aye at least I was pushed and didn't just leap off the stage like Mac over there," he chuckled.

"Hey! Shut up!" Little Mac called from where he casually lied on the floor, sipping a box of juice.

"Hey is Rock okay?" Captain pondered.

"Who?" I asked.

"Mega Man's real name."

"Oh!" I stammered, shifting my focus to my woozy partner.

"Yeah, I'm okay," the kid muttered, sitting up as well, still clutching my hand. His mood changed immediately when he realized something. "Hey, Princess! I still have the arrowhead!"

Relief flooded over me when he seemed alright. "That is fantastic, Rock. I wish the others were here."

"Are you kidding me?" Crazy Hand appeared overhead. "Ugh! This was supposed to be relaxing. Oh well. What should I expect with a mansion full of powerful frenemies? I suppose I should warp everybody back. It looks like we have a winner."

The Smashers flooded back into the ballroom, some awkwardly glancing in our direction, wondering why we were sprawled out on the floor. I heard a few anonymous 'hey's and 'watch it's as Link shoved people aside to reach me.

"Princess Zelda! Are you alright?" He held out his hand to help me up. I let him, of course, and pulled Rock up with me.

"Yes, we are fine, Link. Thank you for trying to help," I responded, nodding assuringly and squeezing his hand, trying to chase away the worry in his blue gaze.

"You should be celebrating!" Crazy Hand boomed to me. "You're team was the first to find all five items."

Rock beamed, gasping, "Really?"

"What's our prize?" Wario demanded, stepping forward with the rest of my team behind him.

Crazy laughed, "Why friendship of course!"

"What?" Dark Pit chortled with and edge of sarcasm.

"Look at how many new friends you've made!"

The entire ensemble started to groan in protest.

"What a waste of time!" Bowser growled.

Crazy Hand said with finality, "Oh come now! It was supposed to be fun. Now it's bed time. See you all in the mornin'!"

"Well that's dumb," Rock huffed, but then turned to Link, "I believe this belongs to you, Mr. Link." He held the ancient arrowhead with such a delicacy I'd have sworn it was Pit's angel feather.

"Why thank you, Mega Man. This probably belonged to an ancient ancestor of mine," the knight replied, and almost if on cue, our conversation was joined by one more.

"Princess! Congratulations!" Young Link yelled, running up to me and grabbing my legs in a hug, then after realizing his actions, backing off with a slight blush and a polite nod.

"For what?" I pondered, kneeling down.

"Winning!"

"Thank you, young one," I cooed, pulling him closer for a quick peck on the forehead.

The kiss sent a shockwave of surprise through the little figure, and he waddled off to bed, dazed.

Before I could depart in the same direction, Link had to ask one last time, "Did he hurt you?"

"No. Well, maybe my pride a little and that fall was frightening, but I am fine. Really."

Link smirked with relief, but I could still see the cogs turning in his head, thinking, planning.

"We have no choice but to let it go," I urged. "If we cannot die, there is no danger. He is just going to be a stubborn pig, and do not forget what I said last night. He was more than likely pulled from a time that his power was at its peak, so he believes Hyrule is still under his thumb, and seeing me up and around, 'uncaptured,' probably irritates him."

"I hope you're right."

"You _are_ the one who drilled the sword through his chest. You tell me." A smirk to match his creeped into my expression and we held each other's gaze until I was sure the excess tension in his shoulders ebbed just a little. "Get some rest," I said, placing my palm on his shoulder, affectionately rocking him a little.

He patted my hand, and with a deep, respectful nod, followed the rest of the exhausted men.

* * *

Samus was already in her nightgown when I returned to the dormitory, investigating the refrigerator. "What in the world is this crap? Milk?" She investigated the Lon Lon Milk jar, popping off the cork and taking a whiff.

"It is treated with alcohol," I answered, turning away to strip off my dress.

"Woah! Didn't expect that from you. Mind if I try a sample?"

"Be my guest."

Seconds later I heard a sputtering cough. "Ech! Why is it so strong? Are you a recovering alcoholic or something?"

"Strong?" I pondered, stepping over to take a sip after putting on my own pajamas. I tasted its sweet, tangy nectar and was confused. "It tastes the way it always does."

"Just don't get drunk on me. I don't want to deal with that," Samus huffed, crawling under the covers of her bed.

"Getting drunk has never been on my agenda, I promise," I stated, putting the jug back into the cold appliance. It was true. I hated the idea of losing my senses like that, nor did I feel like it was the correct thing to do to my own body.

"Well good. Goodnight, Zelda," she yawned.

I smiled a little. She called me Zelda. It felt good to not be a princess for once.

 **A/N: Lol sorry I said I would wait until the new characters but I had one more chapter in between there to finish the scavenger hunt. Let me know what you think! NOW I think i'll wait until the new characters are announced. Check me out on FB! See you next time :D**


	12. Chapter 12

Entry Twelve:

Tangible Courage

"Ooo, I like that one," Samus announced from directly behind me, nearly making me jump out of my skin.

In my hands was a dress similar to the one I had arrived with, but colored in a deep cobalt blue. I didn't own a dress of this color, but nonetheless it was meant to fit me. I muttered, "I want to understand why we are given the same clothes, but of different colors."

Samus shrugged, "I don't know. Roll with it."

"Roll?"

"Nevermind."

I clutched the new fabric and marched off to the showers behind Samus.

"Excuse me, ladies. We don't have all day. Long legs coming through."

I nearly tripped as two extremely tall, naked women marched passed us, not a care in the world or an ounce of shame.

"What in the HECK!?" Samus hissed.

The pair received plenty of miffed glances as they pushed passed the drowsy, pajama-laiden women.

"Oh knock it off! You act like you're not even female," the white-haired one huffed as Lucina grumbled after being bumped into by a nude passerby.

"Jeanne, they are just jealous. Come along," the other laughed, fluffing her short, black hair and winking at Samus behind black-framed glasses.

In return, the bounty hunter rolled her eyes and we followed them into the washroom.

"I hope they decide not to make a habit out of that," I grumbled to no one in particular, then taking a shower stall across from Midna.

" I have not seen you in here yet," Palutena said to the pair of attention grabbers. The green-haired goddess was next to Midna, and the black haired newcomer was across from her, unfortunately meaning she was next to me, and her height was too much for the stalls, not covering a thing of her midriff.

"The name's Bayonetta and my friend is Jeanne," she explained, "witches and angel hunters."

The blood drained from Palutena's face. "What?"

"Oh don't worry, your little imps are safe, unless they bother me of course."

It took me a second to realize that Pit and Dark Pit were indeed from the same land as Palutena and part of her angelic legions.

"If you lay a hand on them-" the goddess hissed.

"It seems like no one remembers the rules around here. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't harm them," Bayonetta sighed.

"Ah!" a voice howled from the other stall next to me. "It's freezing!"

Our conversation shifted to someone else I hadn't met yet. She desperately fidgeted with the faucet to make it warmer.

Midna pondered, "Seriously, where were some of you yesterday morning?"

"You need not be concerned about my business," Bayonetta stated. Midna just scoffed and turned to the light-haired one next to me. She sort of reminded me of Robin.

"I-i overslept and didn't have time to shower," she explained with a touch of guilt, still fidgeting with the faucet.

Ignoring my embarrassment, I said, "Here, my dear, let me help. These silly things are tricky," and stepped in to help her.

"Thanks. What is your name?" she asked as relief washed over her face in time with the warmer water.

"Zelda. And yours?" I replied, going back to my place.

"Corrin. Nice to meet you, and thanks for the help."

I nodded as I scrubbed my own hair. Overall, my comfort level was increasing bit by bit. Things were still so strange, I expected to awaken in my own bed back in Hyrule, but at the same time, my mind was adjusting to the concept of embracing everything, no matter how weird.

I heard Corrin in the stall next to me let out an unearthly noise as she stretched and yawned, revealing razor teeth and I swear there was a little plume of smoke that seeped from her nose. Speaking of weird.

* * *

"There she is!" Shulk called as I seated myself next to Link.

"Hm?" I pondered.

"Oh just wondering when the princess would show," he laughed, eyes twinkling.

I blushed a little. I was used to the idea of being expected or waited on, but here the rules were different for that sort of thing. I was in charge of nothing and subject to everything.

Link informed, "Looks like we are starting sparing today."

"Already? I do not feel like I have received enough training for that." I shuddered a little. Yesterday was a mess for me, and to actually start fighting against people seemed horrifying.

Link lifted his hand as if to place it on my shoulder, but stopped himself, setting it into his lap. "You'll do fine, Princess."

I just sighed, picking at my breakfast. I barely noticed Shulk nudged him, but my swordsman only shrugged in response.

Meaningless conversation ensued, each second getting nearer to my next challenge. My mind clogged with battle strategies and the magic techniques I tried to figure out yesterday. What was I supposed to do against half of the people I've met? What if I had to fight Ganondorf all over again? Or worse… What if I had to fight Link? Call to the arenas was all too soon. Breakfast only half finished due to nerves, I kept on Link's heels as we made our way to the interdimensional doors.

"Alright everyone. Today is the day you really get to learn how to fight against one another. And not to worry, there is no 'fun time' event for tonight, so if you feel like you need to go into a practice room and keep sparring with a partner or beat the crap out of a sandbag, be our guest," Master Hand announced. That was helpful, but not for this morning. "Free-for-all's is what will take place today. The rules are simple. Get the most KO's within five minutes for the win. The more you are damaged, the harder it will be to recover from an opponent's hits, and if you leave the set boundaries from any direction, you are out. After each KO, we will respawn you back into the arena. No items today, so assists can chill, and Red, you can hold onto your extra Pokemon you so kindly let us use as items," Master Hand continued. I turned to see the teen nod, clutching his bag, Pikachu looking invigorated upon his shoulder. "Four set arenas will be open. Those not of the sixteen fighters up first will watch from an audience before their turn. The rotation of matches will continue for three hours until lunch. You'll need all the calories you can get."

I bit my lip, yet held my composure as much as possible. Master Hand called off names for the first three arenas, picking off fighters one by one. Yet just when I thought I would get to watch for the first round, he called, "Lucas, Corrin, Zelda, and Yoshi."

Great.

The four of us were transported to an area referred to as the 'Distant Planet.' It was forested, pretty, calm, and-

"OH WHAT IS THAT!?" a male voice shouted from behind me.

I turned to see the back of Corrin… well I thought it was Corrin. A young man took a few steps away from the edge of the springy platform we stood on, face to face with a large red and yellow creature. He clutched some sort of sword, tiny blades whirring along the edge of the actual blade, flames dancing with the rhythm of the moving metal.

"I would not go near it," I advised, staring at the beast's gaping jaws as if it expected us to just jump in. "Wait, I thought Corrin was supposed to be in this fight."

"I am Corrin," the swordsman responded, turning his face so that I was met with the same crimson eyes I met in the shower this morning.

"But-"

"The Hands brought two alternate versions of me to this place. The same situation happened with Robin and the Wii Fit Trainer. Weird, huh? It's like one wasn't good enough."

He frowned, still glancing at the weird animal who was waiting patiently for a snack.

"Or maybe you were such a good choice, the Hands wanted more of you," I offered, not really sure of the true reasoning, but wanting to make him feel better.

"Hm. Never thought of it that way," Corrin laughed, a pointy grin matching his female counterpart's.

Something bumped into me from behind, gently, as if wanting attention. It was the little green dinosaur named Yoshi. He stood at about my waist height, his snout bumping my hip affectionately.

"Hello there," I scratched his big nose, and he hummed with glee.

The last part of our party stood a few yards behind Yoshi, twiddling his thumbs and avoiding eye contact.

"You are Lucas, no?" I pondered.

He just nodded, keeping his dark eyes down and shuffling his feet. I can't believe I was sent to fight these beings. Corrin I could see being a valuable warrior, but a shy kid and a gentle, dog-like dinosaur? I would never say it out loud, but I just had to wonder of their quality in battle. I suppose if I was picked, the Hand's standards must be pretty low after the true warriors like Link were chosen.

A voice from above announced, "Ten seconds until the melee begins. Get into the places you originally stood upon."

The four of us abided, and my heart began to pound out of my chest as I saw Corrin's friendly face turn bleak, the flame aura of his blade growing in intensity. Yoshi stood on the other side of me, looking at no one, but staring off into the distance, unblinking and fully aware of everything around him. His haunches were tensed, quivering almost. Lucas was literally clutching a snake that casually wrapped itself around the kid's arm; the shy child I had seen moments before was gone, and in the dark eyes was not fear, but determination. His breath came in quick gasps, a sort of steam emitting from his mouth as if the air around him was frozen.

In those few seconds I knew I had underestimated everything.

 _Four… Three…_

The whirring from Corrin's sword grew more intense.

Yoshi's little hands formed tight fists.

Underfoot, frost began to form where Lucas stood, the snakeless hand sparkling with electricity.

 _Two…_

My vision began to blur with fear.

 _One…_

 _Go!_

The first directed swing at me was from Yoshi. His little body crouched menacingly, and he spun himself so that his tail kicked my feet out from underneath me. I landed on my rump, and a little surprised with my reaction time, kicked back, flinging him into Lucas who cracked him across the head with a stick. I felt hot, burning metal rip into my shoulder blades as Corrin hit me from behind, sending me upwards to land on a sturdy leaf canopy. I expected to feel my own blood soaking the back of my dress, but the pain was gone as soon as it had arrived. From out of nowhere, Lucas hopped up next to me, hands glowing with fire.

"PK FIRE!" he shouted, sending a puff of flame at my feet, but instantly, I felt the hands of protection upon my shoulders as I let out a burst of defense magic, a crystal of blue forming around me and sending the attack back towards the boy. Thank Nayru for her love. Lucas was taken aback by my quick reaction and suffered the blow from his own hands, yelping at the heat. Taking advantage of his plight, I lunged forward, fingertips crackling with energy. Lucas grunted against my electric charge and was sent back many paces into the mouth of Yoshi who was seemingly waiting for his chance. The little beast literally passed the boy through his body into a wriggling egg.

Horrified, I turned around only to run into Corrin, his hand poised to lung some sort of spear right through me, yet the weapon was attached to him, part of him in a weird transformation that made the warrior not quite human. Atop his head were freakish horns, and he literally roared at me while he lunged the spear-hand into my chest. I was frozen in place, unable to do a thing until he followed up with another sword slash that flung me across the stage.

I was somewhat separated from the trio for just a few seconds as I picked myself back up. Taking a breath of solemnity, I tried to refocus my negative energy into something productive, like tossing some fire balls at unsuspecting enemies. My hand lit with Din's Fire, and I flung a volley of flames at the brawlers, and in turn, they came right back at me, upset I had found a way to weaken them from a distance. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to respond with more fury, and instead, my fight or flight instincts chose to run.

A flash of green enveloped me, and I appeared behind the foes. Confused, they turned back around, yet instead of chasing after me, only Yoshi was up for it, as Corrin and Lucas continued to duke it out with each other. I prepared to summon a phantom, but upon its release, Yoshi dodged passed it and kicked me in the jaw.

I finally began to understand the damage concept, as I was flung even farther back than I was during the first few hits of the match. I slid to the edge of the stage, and Yoshi was right on my tail. His shadow blotted out part of the sun as I saw his rump flying towards me at blinding speed. He slammed into me, somehow sending me into the air, and as he jumped to land another hit, my foot caught him first. Electricity shot through my foot and directly into my victim, causing the little dinosaur to fall directly into the mouth of the red and yellow monster I had all but forgotten about. There was a sickening 'crunch' as the beast left satisfied with the snack I had delivered.

I stood, horrified at what I had done, but just a little ways above me, Yoshi appeared once more on a little floating platform, rejuvenated and angry, his gaze burning mine. He dropped back onto the stage, running straight towards me and my remorse left all the same. Adrenaline replaced some of my apprehension, and the little dinosaur and I went at it until Corrin and Lucas rejoined us.

My first downfall was received from Lucas who dodged past a wild aerial down-kick and used his powers to quite literally encase my body in a hunk of ice, launching me into oblivion. Although I couldn't move, I screamed until I found myself standing on one of the re-spawn platforms, and jumped back into the match. Five minutes seemed to take an eternity, but our first match ended with Lucas's victory, as he gained the most KO's.

We were warped into a the center of a different arena, Lucas holding his head high, yet timidity taking him again with each passing second. A crowd of waiting smashers clapped for the winners as the other three groups appeared next to us. The sixteen of us stood in a line, the winners a few steps in front of the losers. The audience sat gathered in one clump of the immense ring of seats around us. Above hung floating screens that must have been broadcasting the matches to our spectators.

"Congratulations winners! How does it feel to be the first victors?" Crazy Hand cackled from the seats. He didn't really have a rump to properly sit, so he just sort of slumped over a good amount of seats.

"Victors?" Master Hand challenged. "This is just sparing. The real victors will be seen in a few days. Let's see… who's up next?"

My group was teleported into empty seats, replacing another sixteen fighters' spots. I appeared next to Peach, still breathing heavy and shaky from the rush of emotions and expended energy.

"Wow Zelly! I watched you most of the time. You did great. Throwing Yoshi into that monster thing had me on the edge of my seat!" Peach exclaimed, patting the dinosaur that had appeared on the other side of her.

Tentatively, I looked at him, but his stare held the old, affectionate emotion I saw before the ten second countdown. Somehow this little thing seemed to have a better grasp on how to act around here than I did. I supposed taking lessons from a happy reptile wouldn't be as uncommon as one would think. "No hard feelings?" I asked.

"Yoshi! Rrrahh!" was all he said, eyes smiling. He rested his head on Peach's lap so that we could both pet him.

As I scratched his nose, my attention locked onto the big screen where a certain green-garbed warrior was set up against Jeanne, Wolf, and Ike. I swallowed, mentally wishing him the best of luck.

"Where are we, anyway?" I asked Peach. It was an odd sort of area to be hanging out in as we watched the fighters.

"The Hands said it was also a fighting arena, but doubles as an observatory like we are using it for now," she explained.

We awaited our next turn, watching our friends and enemies swing at each other, the entire arena dark except for the illumination of the matches. Link was doing rather well, but his opponents definitely proved to be a challenge. Jeanne slinged her guns this way and that, her long white hair complimenting the red skin-tight body suit. I was amazing that she was able to operate such a weapon with her feet as well as her hands. Wolf kept deflecting Link's projectiles, forcing him to angrily pull the dark animal towards him with his clawshot and slam the hilt of the Master Sword into the villan's head. Ike took the pair by surprise with a massive up-swing from his blade, causing Wolf's to fly out of bounds, and nearly taking out Link in the process.

I peeked back and forth between the matches, but my default concentration was always on Link. He truly deserved to be here, and glancing at the score would prove my point. He was tied for first with two KO's and one fatality next to Ike. Jeanne and Wolf struggled to catch up, but had mere seconds left.

"What happens if they tie?" I asked Peach, Yoshi nearly asleep in her lap from the scratching he was receiving from the both of us. The princess just shrugged.

Sure enough time ran out, and when the other groups plus Jeanne and Wolf appeared on the floor, Crazy Hand howled, "A sudden death already!? Pass the popcorn!"

"You don't have a mouth," Master Hand huffed.

"Shut up. I like throwing it at people," his brother whined.

"Sudden death?" My worries came back at the name. We all watched as Link and Ike were faced in front of each other, their damage count upped to three hundred percent.

"Just one good hit and BOOM!" Crazy Hand cackled.

I folded my hands in my lap, and sat forward, willing each one of Link's moves not to be his last. Ike swung first, his large sword coming down on Link in a terrifying arch of power, but he was one step ahead, and rolled past the blue-haired fighter. Leaping into the air, Link kicked twice at Ike from behind while facing the opposite direction, slamming both feet into Ike's back and sending him directly out of bounds.

"That's game!" Master Hand announced as both warriors returned to the arena next to Jeanne and Wolf, Link standing just a few paces in front to show victory.

I stood up, hands clasped over my chest. "He did it!" I exclaimed to Peach, looking back to meet a bit of a sly smile.

"He sure did," she replied. "Someone is sure excited for her hero's victory."

My smile lessened, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well of course you would. Oh, nevermind," Peach sighed, yet smiled and waved off her comment. "I'm glad he won too."

Link was warped into the seats next to his friend Shulk, too far away to talk to, but at least I got to sit next to Peach for one more battle before she was called in for her turn. I sat alone as I watch her slap, kick, and chuck turnips at her opponents. She, too, was more powerful than I had thought. I was called in again to the next fight (I lost of course), and the rotations ensued until our promised lunchtime where I was finally able to speak with Link.

"Great job out there," I told him, sitting next him in the high-backed dining chairs. "It was invigorating to watch Hyrule's finest at work."

He blushed a little, subconsciously rubbing the back of his neck. "Well your matches were intense too. Each time someone hit you, I wanted to jump in and well… fix that."

"I am feeling a little better about this situation," I stated. "I didn't know my powers could do so much. Our past incarnations were right, yet somehow I still feel that I don't belong here."

"Good to hear, though as much as I wish you didn't have to be here, I think you have just as good of a chance as I do," Link replied, trying to hold my gaze, but his eyes fluttered away every once in awhile.

I took a bite of an apple before replying. "Oh I don't know about that. Everyone seems so confident, and I feel so… lost."

"Confident? Well if I somehow look the part to you, it's far from the truth."

"Really?"

"Yeah. No matter whether I carry the Triforce of Courage or the ordeals I've been through, I am always afraid."

I stopped eating to process that information. Link. _The_ Link, was _afraid._

"But fear is just misdirected energy. You have to take that fear, and use it for your own purposes. Concentrate harder, see clearer, react faster. Fear is necessary adrenaline, but can be misguided and used to freeze yourself into danger or run from a challenge," he explained, using his hands to suggest fear was something tangible and could be held and molded into something better.

His words made me smile. "Even I, Holder of the Triforce of Wisdom, did not think of such a thing. Thank you, Link. You have eased a few of my nerves."

He put his hand back on the table. "You're welcome, Princess."

"Please," I urged, placing my hands over his to show the sincerity of my request, "call me Zelda. You are one of the last people required to call me 'Princess.'"

"Right! I'm sorry, force of habit. But you're welcome, Zelda." He smirked, relaxing around my presence for once.

 **AN: I'm sorry this took so dang long. I do have a few more chapters in reserve so it'll be a while before/if I have a big gap in content again. I won't post them all at once, but the snippets are still being uploaded to Zelda - Holder of Wisdom on FaceBook. They usually are unedited on FB, so sorry for silly typos, but the snippets do go up before the FanFiction chapters as per the usual. Let me know what you think! 3 Have a fantastic day, and may your own ideas flow endlessly. :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Entry Thirteen

New Challenges, Old Rivals

"Zelda. You. Me. Pyrosphere. Sparring."

"W-what?" I stuttered as Samus dragged me away from Link at the lunch table.

Samus explained, "We both need the extra practice and they said the arenas were open, remember?"

"I-I-"

Link stood to help, but I waved him off. I could handle this, hopefully.

"Isabelle," Samus said, approaching a little counter next to the interdimensional doors in the ballroom, "Is anyone in Pyrosphere?"

"No, Miss Samus. You came early enough," the little dog stated, shuffling through some papers. Over her head were more monitors flickering back and forth between a few pairs of Smashers already sparring with one another, some one on one, others is larger groups. Isabelle continued, "Would you like Items?"

Samus shook her head.

"Omega or regular form?"

"Omega?" I pondered.

"It's the competitive, flat form of the stage with no obstacles or obstructions. Good for concentrating on fighting alone," the secretary explained.

"That one," Samus declared.

"Okay, ladies!" Isabelle pushed a few buttons on her control panel.

"Were you controlling this stuff earlier?" I asked

"No. The Hands gave me this desk so I could take a shift at running the doors while they relax. The only downside is I can't be an assist trophy until someone else relieves me.

"Weren't you working at the bar a few nights ago?" Samus investigated.

"Yes. But I like to help! It was my job back home." Isabelle smiled, and after pulling a lever, the big red doors opened next to us, revealing a swirling portal to the arena.

We thanked the secretary and Samus pulled me along into a new area full of so much strange technology, it was a little intimidating.

"I remember this place," she sighed, "but let's not worry about that."

"Why did you bring me here?" I wondered.

"A few reasons," she replied, and before I could ask anything else, clutched her gun and leaped at me, eyes glazed with ferocity and determination. I was done for.

Her foot slammed into my chest, and immediately afterwards, she sent some sort of stunning shockwave through my being with her weapon. I was frozen in place for a second too long before she swept my feet out from under me and stood over my shuddering body, weapon pointed at my face.

"Come on, Pretty Princess. I know you can do better than that," she cackled.

Replacing the ebbing pain, a wave of anger gave me the extra push to summersault away from her hold.

"You look mad. Use it," Samus instructed, firing an electric grapple that pulled me towards her. Before she could hit me again, I jammed my hand into her face and electrocuted her in response. She took a step back but then leaped into the air, plopping behind me before I could jab at her again.

"Slow and pathetic," she uttered, lunging forward with an aerial kick to my hip. I was flung farther back this time, but was able to land on my feet. Frustration was trying to clog my mind, and I was too slow to stop it.

"HHHRAAH!" I roared, tossing a flame at Samus, but aimed incorrectly and let it go too early, missing her by a few feet.

Samus wandered up to me, leaving herself wide open. "I can see why you didn't win any matches today," she taunted. "Your closest one was the first, and that Pikmin monster did all the work for you.

Her words continued to sting. She was right, yet I kept trying.

"Persistence. That's pretty valuable, but you still suck." She sidestepped most of my blows and then sent me skyward with her plasma whip.

Trying to take advantage of my height, I kicked at her from above, but she sidestepped again and kicked me backwards. Hitting her was becoming pointless, and I knew at any moment one of her blows would send me out of bounds.

"Why are you doing this?" I panted, feeling defeated.

"Because you need it. I said use your anger, not abuse it." She shot at me again, but I deflected it back with my crystal force field. She was right; my frustration was beginning to fog my concentration. Samus gave me just a split second to take a deep breath before rushing at me, full force, and I let her. Right as she was about to strike, I stepped to the side and grabbed her with an electric aura. Her feet dangled off the ground and since my strength for lifting people was a bit lacking, I let my magic do the work for me.

Before I sent jolts through her bones, she grinned. "Good."

After shocking her a few times, I tossed her over the edge, my boots clunking on the metal floor as peeked over the side to see her activate her rocket boots to save herself. On a whim, I launched myself into the air, and down-kicked her into oblivion. I snatched the edge of the stage before falling and rolled back up into a resting stance. Samus respawned and dropped down, facing me. I raised my hands, the tips of my fingers glowing, waiting.

"Woah there," she laughed. "I'm done picking on you for now. That was good. Wasn't expecting the grab."

I lowered my hands, but kept the glare.

"Lose the face. I'm done," Samus urged.

"Why all of this?" I demanded, trying to soften my expression, but I was still too irritated to accomplish it.

"Like I said, you needed a push. You're so close to doing what you want to do with your talent, but just don't know how to use it yet. Trust me, I kept an eye on your matches all day while I could."

I scoffed. "I don't have talent. I don't deserve the blessings of the goddesses. I still do not know why I am here."

"Zelda. Shut up for a second and let me finish."

Taken aback by being talked to in such a way, I abided, more curious than angry.

She continued, "I've seen plenty of warriors in my days and have fought plenty of beasts. The angriest always destroy themselves in the end. The weakest scare themselves into submission under my boots. The dumbest make stupid-and fatal-mistakes. Coming out on top always takes preparation, persistence, wit, patience, and understanding. I was able to anger you, but after realizing your mistake, you fixed it immediately. You fear weakness. I saw a lot of that today, but you surprised yourself with your own strengths. I don't even need to elaborate on your smarts and determination. Use your natural patience for the battlefield like you would in everyday situations. All you really lack is preparation, which we are taking advantage of right now." The bounty hunter stepped closer to me, placing her hands on my shoulders. "You're holding yourself back and are blinded with fear and frustration. It was easy for you to eliminate the anger, but your fear is a little stuck, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"You hide it well."

I pondered, "Then how would you know?"

"Experience. As an early trainee, I, too, was scared for my life at times."

"What made you get over it?"

Samus smiled, "Realizing my own life wasn't the most important to me. Sure, I am a bit of a loner, but I had people to protect from the darkest corners of the universe. This 'experiment,' whatever it is, seems to be testing the limits of multiple worlds by challenging the guardians chosen to protect them."

"But like I said," I sighed, "I feel like I do not belong here."

"Stop doubting yourself, because I think you do." She shook me a little before letting go. "Enough of this mushy stuff. Ready to keep-"

There was a rumbling underfoot, cutting Samus's question short. A large pipe burst, spilling out molten lava into the blank space below. Unseen platforms flickered back into place, becoming tangible out of thin air.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Not sure, but I think the Omega form of this place glitched out," Samus suggested.

Something was off. I felt a chill travel up my spine and looked around the facility, trying to find the source. Softly, ever so softly, I detected a scraping noise from down below. "Do you hear that?" I inquired.

Samus concentrated harder on her surroundings. "Just barely, but… Man those long ears are useful." She glanced at me and then stepped to the edge, focusing on the crackling stream of liquid fire.

"It sounds like it is coming from below the stage," I described, wishing I could look without falling to my doom. Granted I would respawn, but with the stage glitching out, I'd rather not risk it.

"Watch my back," requested the bounty hunter as she slapped the stage with her plasma whip and propelled herself over the edge.

The ground shook once more, this time accompanied by a disturbing growl that nearly stopped my heart entirely. A moment later, Samus attempted to pull herself up, anger and desperation in her gaze, and one other thing I never expected from her: a touch of fear.

"RUN!" she yelled as some sort of dragon-like creature ripped her off the stage in it's claws, pulling her into no man's land. It let out a screech that scraped on the back of my brain so sharply, I was forced to clutch my ears. The bounty hunter wriggled her gun arm free, yet before she got a clear shot, the beast tossed her into the blackness below before setting its sights on me.

I froze. The woman with piqued confidence was just thrown into nothingness and to top it off, wasn't respawning. Everything shred of confidence she had given me was ripped away. There was nowhere to run or hide. The only thing I had left was to fight.

Despite the earth-shattering fear in my joints, I readied myself, wasting no time to throw some Din's fire, aiming for the fierce, yellow gaze. It screeched at my fire, purple wings flapping harder, preparing to dive. Sure enough, swooping at blinding speed, in its mouth I went, sharp teeth cutting into my abdomen. If not for the death-resistant spell the Hands cast over this place, I would be seriously injured, but with said knowledge, I tried to ignore the cutting pain. I raised my hand to its eye, sending electric pulses into its face until it dropped me, just out of reach of the stage. Luckily, I remembered the feeling Farore had bestowed upon me, and teleported, back onto the platform. The beast spun around, its tail connecting with my chest. I was hit to the other end of the stage, landing hard. My damage percentage had to be way up from fighting Samus, and one or two more hits like that would end my chances. But what was I doing? If I just jumped over the edge, I would end up back in the mansion. If not, this beast would surely do it for me; I was surely prolonging the inevitable. Crawling up to me with an agonizingly slow pace, it sneered at me, and right when I tried to stand, it swiped.

No. I needed to get over these fears.

Instinctively, I rolled underneath it, narrowly missing its grasp and standing under the belly of the beast, swiped it repeatedly with the shards from Nayru's love. It lifted off the ground in frustration, but I responded with a lunge after it, fiercely blasting fire at its underside. Hissing in pain, it snatched me in its claws, and my confidence started to ebb even more when I couldn't move.

"LET HER GO!" A familiar voice called from below. An arrow lodged itself into the creature's shoulder and he dropped me. I landed on one of the floating platforms and the beast grew angrier, blowing gusts of fire at my rescuers. Link had somehow appeared in the arena with Shulk at his side and another smasher I was not familiar with. Unable to tell the gender, he or she wore and orange mechanical suit of high-tech armor and shot various, exploding projectiles. Shulk slashed away, dodging and cutting away at the beast's feet while Link kept volleying arrows directed at its chest and face. I hopped onto the ground, joining my hero and started to send more Din's fire at the foe.

"Zelda, stand back," Link advised, but for once, my fear was ebbing and I refused. Instead, I charged forward, feeling the rare shadow magic within stir, and with all of my might, summoned a dark phantom. The armored ghost swung, landing a hard blow at the beast's chest, sending it reeling off the back of the stage with a finality that felt so satisfying. With a flash of red white, it was gone.

I wiped the sweat from my brow, and turned to face my friends and the newcomer I had not met yet, one hand on a hip that stuck out a little more than normal. "Good riddance," I utterred. There must have been something strange in my composure, or just the whole incident in general had Link staring at me with surprise.

"Zelda, I'm proud of you," a voice called from inside of the suit. The green visor retracted to reveal Samus's beautiful face from the inside. "You just helped take down one of my biggest challenges. Granted, I'm sure the Hands made some sort of deal with Ridley to ease up, because that attack was hardly anything, but even so, that son of a drake was angry.

"Hoy! Let's do that again!" Shulk laughed, slinging his Monado over his shoulder.

"No," Samus growled. "Let's not."

I had to know. "I must have skipped over the part in the pamphlet about that armor."

"Oh this?" Samus wondered. "I usually wear my power suit."

"Well it is one of the more extraordinary things I have seen thus far," I complied, still surprised I knew the name of Shulk's weapon but missed the part about Samus's mecha form.

"Thank you," she said.

Link stepped up to me, still a might concerned. "Are you hurt?"

"No. My damage percent is probably high, so do not step on my toe or you might win this match," I chuckled.

Samus laughed but Link literally took a baby step backwards.

I sighed and said to Link, "Ease up, Soldier. You will not harm me in any way in this place."

"Finally starting to feel… invincible?" Shulk asked.

"Yes. I suppose the ideas of how things work around here are starting to sink in," I answered.

"Just don't forget the rules when we return home," Samus warned, eyes wandering around the area. "Isabelle! Isabelle?" She called to whoever could hear. "Can you transport us back yet?"

Before I could ask, the four of us were warped back into the ballroom in the center of a large, curious group of smashers who had just been watching the monitors. "I'm so sorry all of you!" Isabelle cried, pushing through the crowd and waddling up to us, her little yellow paws covering her eyes with shame. "I tried to stop him!"

"Stop whom?" I inquired, before my attention turned to Link. He was wondering towards Donkey Kong, and in the ape's arms was none other than Dark Link, his arms being held firmly behind his back.

Isabelle explained, pointing at the suspect, "He messed with my controls when he knew you were inside the pyrosphere and set the stage to normal mode, thus releasing the stage hazard, Ridley."

"Thank you for your help, Isabelle, and I do not blame you," I stated, then walked over to where Link stood, waiting for me to give the word to let Donkey Kong free Dark Link.

I had something to say first. "I do not know what your intentions were, but that little challenge assisted me tonight."

"Is that so? Great. Fantastic. Glad to be of assistance. Now can you get this filthy thing to let me- OW!" Dark Link yelped as DK tightened his grip.

"I still have yet to figure out exactly what you are, but for now I could not care less," I hissed. "Just go. You cannot cause problems much worse than that around here. You are surrounded by powerful beings who can easily handle you. Let him go, Donkey Kong."

The ape complied, and the dark doppelganger rubbed his wrists, red eyes cutting into my soul, yet I refused to show it any since of submission. "There is nothing to figure out about me. I won't let you. I am not an 'it.' I am a person, a person that will enjoy messing with such a prissy little doll," he seethed.

Link's eyes flashed with fury, but I held up a hand to still him.

"Good luck with that," I stated, standing tall, chin high and eyes proud. My words were unlike what I would usually say, but nonetheless I couldn't hold them in my mouth.

Dark Link trotted away, standing just as tall as me, a smirk in his step.

"Thank you, Donkey Kong," I said, and he grabbed me, wrapping his fluffy arms around my entire being in a happy embrace, grunting in sincere welcome. Before he put me down, he picked Link up too, so that the two of us were squashed in the death-hug.

He lumbered away after setting us down, and I giggled when Link sneezed, sending a flurry of fur into the air. The knight of Hyrule paused for a moment, looking like he was to say something important, but stopped himself and instead, asked, "May I?"

"May you what?" I wondered.

"Your crown is crooked after that hug."

"Oh! Um, yes. You can fix it if that is what you were asking."

Hesitant at first, he tucked away a few loose locks of my hair and straightened the diadem. There was a softness in his eyes I had not witnessed yet since he tried to calm me down in the midst of the chaos two days prior. It made me blush profusely, and despite trying to cover it, I think he took notice, for his cheeks did the same.

"Thank you," I muttered, almost inaudible, and my embarrassment deepened when I noticed a multitude of people still had their attention drawn to us. Clearing my throat awkwardly and breaking his eye contact, I pondered what to do next.

"Want to go grab something to drink?" Link offered. "I heard there is a room around here to just relax."

Indeed there was, for Ganondorf had introduced me to it already, yet we weren't very relaxed. "Sure, Link. I would love to."

 **A/N: Slow again? Yes, I am. Sorry. I hate to say you may have to expect these intervals of time from now on from me. I'm sorry... I wanted two weeks to be the length, but that's just not possible in my life right now. I haven't even written since Christmas break. Don't worry, there is still two or three chapters in reserve, so the content isn't done yet. But I have 22 credit hours in college and about 14 hours of instrumental practice time I need to accomplish every week AND 8 a.m. classes every single day... I need to focus on my musical career right now, but once summer hits (which is like May for me) I should have a different daily schedule. I will be taking 15 credit hours of summer classes and hopefully find a job along with still keeping up my music skills, but that should give me more time to write.**

 **One last small issue is the slight lack of motivation for this story. I'm just having a bit of plot devising trouble. There is so many scenes I want to write but I need to thread them together better. I don't expect it to be my best writing ever (yes I know it's the only big project I have on this account thus far but I have better fanfics in mind) since it's actually mostly done for my FB page fans and I wanted to post it here as well.**

 **IDK where I was going with that XD but if you follow my FB page you'll get the daily (unedited) snippets of this and get to meet some of my fans. ^.^ The page name is Zelda - Holder of Wisdom. Anywho, sorry for being a lame poster. I'll try to do what I can, but my schooling comes first. When you play like 8 instruments you get kinda busy '^.^ heh.**


	14. Chapter 14

Entry Fourteen

New Attitudes

"Wow," Link stated, taking in the living space as much as he could. It was full of soft seating with little tables to see trays of food on. Waddle Dees wandered around, waiting for something to do, someone to serve. A few stragglers hung around; I'm pretty sure I spotted Mario taking a quick nap in the back and Phosphora was laughing at something funny that Dark Pit said. Everyone else was either working out or watching in the ballroom.

"Over here?" Link suggested, leading me away from the few already here.

I shrugged a little and followed him. Almost immediately a Waddle Dee found us and handed me a notepad and some sort of writing utensil. I was used to quills, but this wooden device seemed to dispense some sort of chalk that wrote just as well.

"What is this for?" I asked.

The little orange creature gently took it back from me and drew a crude picture of a cup. Then, after handing the pad of paper back, he also pulled a menu out of thin air that listed many kinds of drinks, simple meals, and desserts.

"Oh! I see. You want me to write down what I want?" I said.

With it's eyes, it smiled at me and hopped up and down.

"Alright. Let me see what you have," I laughed. Link observed as I scanned through the menu. I chose a woman's best friend: a cup of coffee with sugar and a slice of chocolate cake. "Do you want anything?" I asked Link who nearly had to snap out of a trance. Did I take that long, or was his mind on something else?

"M-make that a double," he stated.

Ignoring the stutter in his response, I scrawled out the order and then drew the Waddle Dee a little picture, or at least tried. The little monster churred and waddled away, order in hand.

"I wish I could draw," I muttered.

"It looked fine to me," he said, averting his eyes to the table when I looked at him.

This was becoming awkward really quickly. He seemed very confident not two days ago back home, towing me around on his horse and acting prepared for anything. Now it seemed like he was afraid of something. "Are you alright?"

"Me? Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" He said, boots scuffling under the table as he seemed to be adjusting his position more than necessary.

"You seem ansty. Relax, alright? I think we both need this."

He nodded and sat back a bit, my words taking just a little of the edges.

Before much more conversation could take place, our snack arrived. I gracefully scooped some sugar into my coffee, and then asked Link, "Would you like some? I hate it black. Too bitter."

"Sure," he responded, but before he could grab delicate little jar, I held onto the porcelain and did it for him. "You don't have to… I can do it, Princess." His hand hovered awkwardly over the dish he no longer had a need for as I stirred his coffee for him.

I was starting to pick up on something with mannerisms. It seemed like any time his mind was under some sort of stress around me or if he was afraid of my disapproval, he started to revert to being formal and stiff, as if I were to banish him from existence on the spot. My presence intimidated him in a way that no one else could. I wasn't threatening or any sort of challenge in a fight against him, but my authority he had come to know and understand was blocking him from being himself. The respect he had for me was flattering and meant oh so much, but I just wanted him to be comfortable around me for once.

"Link, I want to be upfront with you about something, if I may," I said, accidently letting in a bit of an authoritative tone.

"Yes, Princess. Anything you wish," He said, sitting up, brow furrowed in utter concentration.

"I have been around a lot of people in my life whether you believe that or not. Stuck in the castle I may have been a lot of the time, but important advisors and citizens with concerns and representatives from other towns… they all came to me for various reasons, and being a young girl forced to understand politics and how to run a country so soon, I learned how to read people. You, my dear, have my utmost permission to just… relax," I said with a bit of a smirk.

I let that sink in for a second, waiting for a bit of amusing confusion from his expression.

I smiled softly. "Link, you are one of the last people that need to treat me like a true princess. Our world has been thrown upside down and right now, I need a friend more than I need a servant. Heck, I do not even _deserve_ to have a man like you act as my servant. Please, you are the greatest knight in Hyrule. You have been turned into a beast, forced away from your home, and asked to do the most impossible tasks. You have saved my life. You have saved everyone's lives. If you are not comfortable with the idea of being my equal, than please, I at least command you to _be yourself_ around me, alright?"

He licked his lips, thinking. I set down the drink and gently set my blue-gloved hands on the table, palms up. When he took them, he cracked a bit of a smile, and I could see a large weight lift off of his shoulders.

"You will not offend me. I do not think you _can_ offend me, but if something is bothering me, I shall tell you, yes?" I stated, holding his hands firmly.

His next reaction actually made the girly side of me shudder a little, for my last statement made him smile wider and cut the eye contact again, staring at his cake and letting out a puff of air in the dorkiest way possible. He said, "This is actually a bit of a relief. I hadn't quite noticed my apprehension was so visible. I do want to be your friend, Zelda. I really do. That's maybe why I get nervous sometimes. I don't want to mess it up."

My face flushed bright red, I was sure of it. "I can promise you I have a normal female somewhere under these jewels," I pleaded.

"I know, and I want to find her." He squeezed my hands a bit before letting go.

I kept my mouth shut at that point, because I knew a bunch of gibberish would come out, thus ruining everything. I tried to hide the flustered expression on my face, but I was probably failing with the crooked, goofy smirk and blush I knew were present. Hoping he wouldn't notice too much, I shoved a bite of cake in my mouth, and it was divine. I didn't care how cliche it was, chocolate was my weakness, yet I began to notice I was probably looking like a pig, so I slowed down a little and sat up straighter.

"Can I ask something in return?" Link inquired.

"Yes, of course."

"With all due respect, I think you need to lighten up a little as well."

I narrowed my eyes, a little unsure.

He continued, "Nothing bad! I just mean, I can see you trying to be so proper and poised and well… at least in front of my you don't have to do that. I grew up on a ranch for Din's sake. I've smelt and touched and witnessed more things with goats that I wish I could un-experience, let alone disgusting monsters that splatter unnatural shades of blood and smelled like rotten meat usually." He shuddered a little. "Not to mention their breath."

I laughed a little, covering my mouth subconsciously.

"Like that. Don't be afraid to laugh or cry or scarf chocolate cake or…" He trailed off gently, settling to just look at me with those bright blue eyes.

I lowered my hand, but he started to snicker.

"What!?" I hissed.

He motioned to his teeth, "You got a little somethin'."

My finger rushed to the culprit and wiped my teeth, smearing a little chocolate sauce on my blue gloves. "Darn it! I liked this color."

Link continued to laugh, and I joined him. He was right; it felt good. Once we settled our giggles, he muttered, "I like that color too."

"Thank you," I said.

He nodded.

"Aw look at you two! You on a date?" Samus appeared next to our table and sofas, still in full armor except for her helmet.

Both of us glanced around awkwardly before Shulk appeared as well. "Dude! Link! You should have seen me against Falco! Man, the four of us need to team. I heard there can be up to eight on the field at once! Hey is that chocolate cake?"

Shulk seated himself next to Link, eyeing the cake. I was both sad for the new company yet thankful we didn't have to answer Samus's question no matter the answer.

"Yeah we could team for sure if it's ever needed," Link said, sipping his coffee.

"Mmm I could use some of that. Mind if I sit?" Samus turned to me.

I nodded. "Of course."

"Is it break time or something?" Link asked, observing a good amount of smashers pouring into the gathering area.

"Nah I guess it's one of those weird social decisions to do things at the same time. People," Samus uttered, rolling her eyes a little. She placed her helmet back on and then retracted the entire suit before I could even find where it was disappearing to. Hailing from a land of magic and all sorts of transformations, I didn't even think to ask. She sat next to me, helping herself to a bite of my cake.

"You all are having cake and didn't invite me?"

Shulk and Samus looked around aimlessly to see where the voice was coming from, but Link and I simply looked to the shadow that the light cast on the tiled floor.

"How long were you in there?" Link asked his shadow, a little irritated.

Shulk and Samus looked genuinely concerned until his shadow animated itself to sit on the edge of our table, back turned and legs crossed. Her skin gradually melded back from complete shadow into her normal blue form. "A while, but I was taking a nap so I didn't miss anything fun, did I?" Midna asked, lifting off the table to hover in her sitting position, facing us.

"Woah," Shulk muttered, studying the imp.

"It gets better," Midna jeered at him, and then popped into her true form, standing at full height, towering over us all until she sat on the other side of me.

"Wooahh," Shulk repeated.

Soon enough, the Waddle Dees got right to their jobs, duplicating Link's and my order until all five of us had fresh slices of cake and coffee.

Our little ragtag group spent the rest of the day training and sparring with other smashers. Samus worked with me a little more, and my confidence in my abilities had boosted since the ordeal with Ridley. The bounty hunter refused to tell me much about the beast, and needless to say we didn't go to any of her stages for the rest of the day.

* * *

Link and I stood watching the last few sparring matches as fighters disappeared into their

bunks for the night. Samus was long gone. Yoshi came to see me for a few minutes before passing out on the floor, sleeping like a rock, until Donkey and Diddy Kong carried him off.

"Princess? I saw what happened earlier, and I'm glad you're okay!" Young Link tugged on my dress, and then rubbed his eyes.

"Thank you, Sweetie," I said. "You are always looking out for me." I knelt down, a great warmth filling me as I looked at the young hero. He knew so much but still held a great deal of innocence. It was strange to think of his form from my world, the dark, brooding presence of a ghost with lingering regrets.

He nodded, pretending not to be sleepy. He was rather good at hiding it, and I'm sure his adventuring demanded many sleepless nights like my Link had experienced, but I think the knowledge of impending sleep was getting to him. The mere thought of a bed was making me sleepy as well.

I held out my arms for a hug, and though hesitant at first, he leaned into me, wrapping his arms around my neck. Something motherly came over me, and I instinctively picked up the boy, holding him as if he were my own. He did not protest, but simply wrapped his legs around my waist and nestled his head into my neck.

Link was staring at me when I stood back up, his expression full of affection. I turned away to hide my blush a little, but it was unavoidable when Young Link said to Link in nearly a whisper, "You have to promise to protect her. Hyrule needs its princess. We all need her, in fact, for her wisdom is important to keep some of us grounded."

I gaped at the boy's words. Constantly I am reminded of the fact that his mind was probably ten years older than his body.

Link looked surprised for a moment as well, but smiled and said, "I promise."

I hugged Young Link tighter, trying to hide my red face, but my reactions were only making Link smile more. "You really think my words are of value?"

"Of course," Young Link responded to me, mid-yawn, and Link nodded to emphasize the point.

"Thank you. Both of you," I stated. "We should get to bed."

After saying goodnight to both Links, I wandered off to my room, finding Samus fast asleep, a few food wrappers and an empty wine glass littering the table on top of our tiny fridge. In the process of changing into one of my nightgowns, someone said behind me, "I am proud of you, Zelda. You remembered my words and have done well for yourself so far." I turned to see the ancient Princess of Time again, sitting of the edge of my bed, but I was not afraid. She continued, "But you still have many challenges to face. Keep a watchful eye for thing you will not expect. Not everything is as it seems. Sleep well, my child," and before I could say anything else, she faded away, her old words echoing in my ears:

 _There is a great ordeal on the horizons. You must go against your first instinct and follow the new voices that call you. Once you leave, time will stand still. Once you accept your challenge, even more of the goddess's power will be discovered inside. But fear not, for you will not be alone._

Samus snored on as I stared into space for a while. It was an old habit of mine to meditate a little in the minutes before I tired to sleep. It helped me relax and reflect on my day a little. I flickered off the lights and sat cross-legged on my back, head bowed and hands relaxed. I breathed in a out with peace and thoughtfulness of the day's events. Everything Samus taught me, the blinding glare of Ridley, and most of all, some of the words Link had said to me. He had already meant many things to me, but some of my thoughts were beginning to focus more on his charm and the way he moved versus what he had done for me and my country. Our friendship was becoming less and less formal, and that I was thankful for. Dare I say I was becoming even rather 'fond' of him, but it was too early to tell for sure, nor do I even know if he would feel the same.

I sighed. Maybe this meditation was becoming a little too thought-provoking. Patience. I needed to have patience. This assignment means more than simple personal problems. We had universes to look out for, and when Link and I returned home, we would go our separate ways for sure.

But why did he have to be so handsome?

I lied down, face completely buried in my pillow. Now was the perfect time to have angsty female instincts.

 **A/N: Thanks for sticking around this far! This chapter was a bit of a cool-down from last chapter, and I hope it's a good change. Let me know what you think! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

Entry Fifteen

Ancient Discoveries in a New Generation

I was usually a decent morning person, but not when my body needed such rigorous recharging.

"Hey. Princess. ZELDA GET UP!" Samus pulled my blankets off of me, and then dumped a glass of ice water on my face.

"Wha? HOW DARE YOU!?" I hissed, sitting straight up, wiping my eyes.

"Look out. Your princessyness is showing."

"I am a princess," I grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. Get up before you're late," Samus huffed and strode out the door.

The next time I got to speak with her was as breakfast, where I sat next to her and said, "Sorry about me yelling at you. I am not much of a morning person when so tired."

"Hahaha! I threw water at your face; you had every right," She started shoveling in the food we were given. "Man these Waddle Dees know how to make an omelet. No wonder King Dedede is so fat!"

I took a bite of the steaming breakfast and savored the egg, cheese, meat, and pepper flavors that woke me up even more. "Agreed." I looked around the room, trying to find Link. It was a subconscious command more or less; I didn't even realize I was looking for him.

"He's coming. Just enjoy your breakfast."

"Hm?"

Samus urged, "Oh please, I know you're looking for Link. You're into him, I get it. But don't let your mind ONLY focus on him."

"It is not! I promise I have plenty of concerns for other things," I insisted.

"Zelly! Can we sit?" Peach pulled us out of the painful discussion. Accompanied by Daisy and Rosalina, she hovered, waiting for my answer.

"As long as Samus is alright with it," I said.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she said, waving her fork in their direction.

Not long after, Lucina, lady Robin, and lady Corrin joined us. There was no room left for Link, but the girls kept me distracted enough as it was.

"I wonder what the event will be tonight," Lucina pondered, looking a touch nervous in her facial expression, but sitting tall nonetheless.

Peach sighed. "I hoped it's a little more fun this time. That scavenger hunt was 'eh.' Been there, done that."

"I didn't mind winning," Rosalina snickered.

"I had Waluigi on my team," Daisy huffed, her voice bleeding into other's conversations so that some turned to tune into us. "Nothing more awkward and clumsy than him."

I heard a distant 'wah' of sadness before Robin asked, "What do you think we will be doing this morning?"

"More sparring is my guess," Samus concluded.

"How much longer until the tournament starts?" I asked.

"Beats me. It's like they are trying to get us real comfortable here before things turn absolutely ridiculous with competition. Attending a sort of military academy, I would know," Samus said. "If they wanted real results as to how we would act under pressure when threatened, which is what they claim to be studying, why let us spar and train up to fight each other?"

"Maybe they really do want us at our most powerful," I said.

"Or to keep us here as long as possible to find our weaknesses. Also, how do we even know we can trust them? Who is to say we get back and years have passed without us, or our homelands are being taken right now," Lucina muttered.

That last comment hit a chord in me. What if she was on to something?

' _Once you leave, time will stand still.'_

"No," I said, "I have a gut feeling that the time freeze circumstance is true."

"How could you possibly know that?" Lucina challenged.

"I do not know for sure," I lied a little, letting my ancestor's voice fade in my ears. I trusted her wisdom over mere mortals. "But what if all of this really is helping us prepare to be able to defend our world, say if beings like the Hands decide to do something about the peace we strive for?" I asked.

"And if it's not?"

"Girls! Girls!" Peach interrupted. "No more arguing. What if one of us simply went and _asked_ one of the Hands to prove it?"

"Now there's an idea!" Samus said, half sarcastically. "I'm going to go get ready for their next set of shenanigans. If one of you does find out, let me know or whatever." The bounty hunter grabbed her gun, and left, plate devoid of food and ready for picking up.

"I'll go find one of them tonight," Lucina vowed, "and let you know as soon they reveal their intentions."

"Only if I come with." A new figure stood behind Lucina. I hadn't really noticed him earlier, but his presence held the same air that Robin's did: quite, mysterious, and full of knowledge. All the tools for someone to never underestimate, and by the looks of him, it seemed to be Robin's male parallel counterpart.

Before Lucina could answer his request, Daisy asked what was on my mind, "Since there are two Robins and two Corrins, what do we call you so not to be confused?"

"Rob for me is fine," the male one spoke. "Wouldn't want to take away a name that fits her so much better," he said, a genuine smile matching Robin's who sat silent next to Lucina, appreciative.

Corrin finally spoke up, brushing a clump of hair behind her ear, "I guess my counterpart and I agreed to a similar solution that I call him Cor for short and I myself stick to Corrin."

"Ugh this is confusing," Peach said. "Hopefully I can keep these straight."

Rob laughed. "Also not to be confused with R.O.B.."

"Wait, who again?" Daisy asked, getting a little annoyed with the name complications.

"The only legitimate robot here, except he doesn't talk really. I asked him if I could steal his name under these circumstances and manually spell his name each time to avoid confusion. He happily 'beeped' so I assume it's alright? I don't know. We don't have that sort of technology where I come from," Rob explained.

I looked past the tacticians and saw the assembling fighters. "It looks like it is time to go," I announced, and we all abandoned the dining hall, heading for the left exit into the ballroom once more.

Master Hand hovered overhead, announcing, "So today, my warriors, four-person sparring will continue but with a new form of damage count we like to call HP or 'Hit Points' or 'Stamina,' whatever you want to refer to it as. This one is seemingly more realistic than our usual method, as the more you get hit, the less points you have, and when you reach zero, you're out. Do not be alarmed when it happens, for you will respawn moments later like usual. Usually we wouldn't give extra live on HP but we feel like being nice. If you leave the boundaries, instant KO like usual. The less HP you have, the farther you'll fly. Make sense?"

Most of us nodded and stood taller, ready. A few nerves tickled at my confidence, but not as drastically as before. With Samus's help and Link's company, I felt less alone. We were listed off into groups of four again, but right when I thought I was ready, my group members made me want to turn tail and head back to bed.

Crazy Hand picked us out, saying, "Hm this one will be fun! All from the same realm if I am correct! Zelda, Ganondorf, Link, and Dark Link!"

Finally finding Link in the crowd, he stood close to me, looking angry. He held out his arm for support and escorted me to the front next our enemies. I stood tall, though felt dread as I held onto Link's arm for dear life. I ignored the joyous smile from Dark Link and refused to even considering looking at Ganondorf, though I know his face held hatred, for it burned in the back of my skull. The great doors opened, and we stepped into the arena.

"Gerudo Valley for all of you! Seems fitting!" The echoes of Crazy Hand rang behind us. We were placed evenly apart, Link and I on one side of the bridge, Ganon and Dark on the other.

"Aye losers! I hope you're ready for paybacks from yesterday!" Dark Link called, twirling his sword.

Link stood behind me, glaring past my body. Ganondorf said nothing. The concept of HP was making me nervous. How was I supposed to know when it would run out? Also, this wasn't a team battle. I'd have to try to take out Link at some point unless I lose right away.

Master Hand's voice rang around us, "Two-stock, which means you have two chances to survive. You 'die' once, you come back one more time. 300 HP each. In 3… 2… 1…"

In a split instant I vowed to myself that I wouldn't abandon Link against these abominations. There was nothing to lose, so I would give it my all.

Ganondorf stalked forward, slowly, while Dark Link ran past him, straight for me. His dark sword swiped at me, but sidestepping, I latched onto him and sent as many shocks into his body as I could. He hovered off the ground, struggling against my magical hold, and with an angry cry, broke away from me, following up with a diagonal slash that sent me backwards into Ganondorf's hands.

"No!" Link hissed, clashing swords with his dark counterpart while his true focus was on me.

I felt familiar, painful shock wave sent through my bones as Ganon's shadow magic took a toll on my HP. He flung me to the side like a ragdoll, but I simply stood back up, holding onto my deadpan composure as much as I could. He glared at me; I smiled back.

"What is the matter, Ganon? Expecting a different result?" I called, and then sent a ball of fire his way, hoping to pick of hit point by hit point. As I continued to fire distance-based shots, something fell in front of me, a little white container with a gold base. Something told me to snatch it and use it however I could. After separating the base from the canister, I was met with a familiar face.

"Oh hi, Zelda. Anyone you want me to throw around?" Midna stood in her imp form, her magical, third hand that doubled as her ponytail poised for grabbing. When she turned to see who was after me, she said, "Wait don't tell me… This one? My pleasure."

Ganondorf tried to hit her as well, but she was invincible, and he fell right into the Twilight Princess's clutches.

"Eeheehee! Oh how I've wanted to do this," she cackled, swinging the Dark Lord this way and that, chucking him into Dark Link. She warped to the other side of the stage and duplicated her actions on Dark Link before giggling and disappearing.

Both baddies were on top of Link, and I refused to just stand there and watch. I teleported into Dark Link, sending him away. His HP seemed to weaken immensely as he flew quite a ways, but he wasn't out yet. The moment Ganondorf pushed Link back a ways, I stepped in between, attempting to cut the evil with shards of Nayru's Love, but in my effort, Link grunted in pain behind me. My attack hit him as well, and I was quickly reminded we weren't on a team. Technically, I should have been fighting him too.

"I am so sorry!" I pleaded with him, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end when I knew my fussing over Link was my downfall, and Ganondorf's fist connected with my shoulder blades, purple magic blinding me.

Instantly, my body went numb as I let out a desperate cry for help, and not an inch of my form was under my control. I lied there for a moment, motionless, only able to witness glimpses of my hero stand once more, fighting over me. I was horrified. Did something of this elaborate setup malfunction? Was I really injured? But before I could worry any longer, I was standing on the respawn platform, overlooking the battle below.

My first stock was gone, and the second must not be wasted.

I leaped down, thrusting my foot into Dark Link's head. He shuddered with the electricity I emitted and fell, paralyzed when his HP reached zero. His red eyes locked on me with hatred. The worse thing about the doppelganger was his voice as he grunted and spoke. He sounded like Link but a bit deeper, filled with hate.

I refused to fight Link if I could help it, and teleported behind Ganondorf, aiding Link to finish him off with a phantom strike behind his back. Unfortunately, Dark's return rid Link of his first life, and I caught the frozen figure as he fell on me, holding him until he respawned.

Ganondorf looked miffed that we had bested him, and shoving Dark Link aside, let out all of the stops. The burly man was a blur of fists, feet, and dark magic. He didn't care who he hit, even if it was Dark. He just wanted to end this battle as the victor. Link and I were beginning to struggle against him, and even Dark was allotting himself to strike his apparent ally, though we were still the main focus.

"You both will realize my power sooner or later!" the Evil King seethed as we tried to dodge his blows, realizing our HP was diminishing.

"Hey, Big Guy, the kills are mine this time. I deserve the points for the trouble they've caused me!" Dark Link said as he tossed a pair of bombs at Ganon.

Ganondorf leaped over the attack and stopped advancing towards Link and I. He chuckled, turning slowly to face the challenger. "Nothing here is yours, you fool." And with that, Ganon swept forward, just quick enough to kick Dark Link's feet out from under him and punt him off the stage where the valley bridge hung until our brawling had destroyed it, depleting his HP and sending him out of bounds.

I was getting a bit nervous, but my thoughts were interrupted by a little orb of light that appeared overhead. Once again I had no idea what it was, but it seemed important. I leaped after it, and using the unrealistic double-jump that accompanied the physics-breaking laws of this place, I tried to grab it, but it didn't respond to my touch.

"Try breaking it open!" Link called as his blade locked into Ganondorf's arm guards.

Obliging, I hit it repeatedly. It formed spidery cracks on the surface, but wasn't ready to budge just yet, and my heart sank as it neared Ganondorf. I landed quite a few paces behind the duo, sweat dripping from my brow. I needed to give myself just a few seconds of air before sending fireballs to finish the job, but Ganon was one step ahead. He threw Link backwards and instantly turned around, punching the orb so that it shattered into a blaze of colors and some sort of golden aura surrounded the dark king.

"You… YOU WILL BOTH BOW TO ME!" His eyes burned with golden energy and he turned to face Link, his body morphing into the deadly, pig-like beast I thought I would never see again. My limbs moved as a snail's pace compared to his rush of power, and I cried out in desperation as Link looked not at the giant beast before him, but at me while Ganondorf trampled over his last life.

On a whim, I teleported to the other side of the stage to linger over my fallen hero. He was splayed out awkwardly, unable to move though his blue eyes locked on me. "I will finish this," I hissed, angry that this one individual was able to torment us so. Something in my expression must have surprised him, for his gaze looked questioning as he lied there, unable to speak. He saw it before I felt it.

I, too, became subject to a rush of random power. Something inside of me was trying to get out; the rest of the magic I held was rising to the surface, and I allowed my limits to break. Ganondorf rushed at me, but as swirl of silver forced him to travel right through me, and as he turned to strike again, hesitated. I felt my bones move and muscles harden; I was changing, transforming. Into what I knew not, but I was ready to use it. An alien surge of energy guided me forward, void of electrical magic and replaced with a new attack pattern. I saw my bandaged hand swipe at him repeatedly, dealing small, but fast damage. He reached out to grab, but I leaped away, faster than I ever thought possible. By pure instinct, I pulled out a few needles hidden within my new clothing. Gone was my dress and in its place was an ancient, warriors garb of some sort, ideal for quick movement and agility. I flung the needles and followed up with and ariel kick to his face. His HP was decreasing, and my morale was climbing higher than ever before.

Ganondorf's eyes flashed with fury, but I simply balanced on one leg, arms stretched in a defensive stance, waiting. The moment his first step was made, I leaped into the air, and body slammed him into the ground. There was a defeated 'umpf' noise from his chest, and he just lied there, fuming. Lowering a cloth that covered my face and before I could stop myself, I spat on the ground next to him, moments before he was removed from the match, saying nothing but meaning more than I could ever say.

I was warped back to arena where the collective teams of the first group stood in a line, winners in front, and losers standing back, paying their respects. For the first time, I stood in the front line, but instead of applause, received awed stares. On top of it, I was the last winner, so literally everyone was waiting for the outcome of our match.

"Z-Zelda?" Link muttered from behind.

I glanced behind me. "Do not ask because I cannot give answers right now," I stated, nearly jumping at the sound of my own voice. It was deep, almost masculine.

"Woah, woah, woah," Master Hand called. "This is your one warning, Zelda. You can't just change into a separate person mid-battle. It's cool or whatever, but you have to pick one beforehand, alright?"

Crazy Hand cackled, "He said before-'hand.' Puns."

I just shrugged. "Sorry. I had not realized." I kept my explanation at that. Not everyone needs to know I had no idea of my own power, so if my words meant that 'I didn't know of that rules' instead of 'I didn't know I could turn into another form,' then so be it.

A few moments later, someone started the applause from the audience, signaling the push to resume as if nothing weird had happened. I still received looks, however.

Once our group broke formation, Ganondorf stormed up to me, hissing, "The DISRESPECT. I don't care what you are; there will be hell to pay for spitting at me."

I stood tall, letting him get in my face and jam his finger into my collar bone. Something about this body chased away even more fear than I had thought possible. "We shall see," stated, trying to calm myself. Never before had I felt so out of character, quite literally.

"Back off of her!" Link demanded, pushing Ganondorf away.

"If I had the ability to do proper harm to the both of you, you would have died days ago," he huffed, stalking away.

 **A/N Finally school is almost out for this semester. Sorry I didn't post this earlier. It was the last one I had finished from quite a while ago but I have nothing left in reserve so there would have been a wait either way. I'll start writing for this story again soon. My summer will be busy, but not as much as now. Thanks for sticking with me this far! And thanks for all the great reviews. I appreciate feedback and concerns. If I messed something up, please let me know. I may have a reasoning behind it or I just completely missed something :P Love you all!**


	16. Chapter 16

Entry Sixteen

A Warehouse of Color

"What happened to you?" Link pondered, observing my new form, concerned.

"I already said I have no idea," I insisted, looking down at myself. My muscle density had increased immensely and I felt so _flexible._ My bust felt a bit smaller as it was wrapped tightly for flattening and support. My hair was pulled back into a long braid and looked even more golden than it had in the pink dress I wore moments ago. The outfit was some sort of skin-tight suit with ancient markings of the Sheikah tribe, and I had a cloth over my face to cover even more of my identity.

"Your eyes are even a different color," Link stated.

I shrugged again before Master Hand ushered us away to sit in the audience.

"DUDE!" Samus yelled at me. "Nice. Was NOT expecting that."

I received many a stare as I sat next to Link, no inkling to change back just yet. This new form… new _power_ … needed to be expanded on, for it seemed useful.

Samus asked, "Wait are you actually a dude now? I'm confused."

"Um… I am definitely not a man. The usual feels intact up top and there is nothing extra in the pants."

Link shifted awkwardly at my comment and Samus just laughed, saying, "Coming from a princess, that's gold. The voice is weird though."

"Yeah, it feels weird to speak with." My throat kept feeling ticklish at the extended vocal chords. It was still feminine enough to pass as female, but just barely.

My thoughts were completely consumed with what this form meant and where it came from. I needed to speak with someone. I stood up, turning to leave the rows of seats. Link looked at me questioningly, but let me squeeze past his long legs and tiptoe away.

"Where are you going, Miss?" Master Hand boomed.

"Can you warp me to the ladies room?" I pondered.

"Of course, but hurry back."

Seconds later, I appeared in the washroom adjacent to the resting area, finally out of the stadium's tense air. Instantly, I found a mirror and gasped. Crimson eyes stared back at me, glancing over every new facial feature that wasn't hidden behind the cloth mask. Golden hair framed my eyes, spilling out of a sort of head wrap. The locks were tied into a braid down my tightly wrapped, muscle-hardened figure. My skin tone was even a few shades tanner. About the only thing that remained the same besides my mind was height.

"You wish to speak with me, my dear?" Ancient Zelda appeared behind me, looking amused.

"What is this?" I whipped around, motioning to myself. "How did I become this? Can I change back? It reminds me of something I saw once in a book."

"Your memory is infallible, it seems. The race was once known as the Sheikah tribe, servants of the Royal Family," she explained, fading into a similar form as mine, minus the braid. In a deepened voice, she continued, "I used this form to help serve the Hero of Time and save my people in disguise. I have granted you the same power to use for your endeavors here. This alter form is a powerful alternative to practice, but never forget the magic you hold as the Princess of Wisdom either, for she may prove more useful to you in the end." She reached out to grasp my bandaged hands, "I have a feeling you will not need me much longer after discovering what you can do. Relying on me alone will teach you nothing."

"You are leaving me forever?" I shuddered, questions still unanswered.

"The Hero's Shade has fulfilled his regret, and I mine. We are finally free, set to rest peacefully together for eternity. Right now, I am here to tell you not to fear this form, and the way you can return to your real form is by sheer willpower and concentration. Mastering these will be no challenge for you. And lastly," She appeared as her true form again, blue eyes relaxed with a tinge of sadness, "I am here to tell you of my pride in your rapid growth. You have come a long ways in just a few days, but do not be afraid to express your emotions while at the same time keeping them from controlling you. It is one of the hardest balances in life, but I have faith you will find a way. You have done so before, after all." She smiled, pulling me into a chilling embrace. "Goodbye, my dear. May we meet again in the afterlife."

With that, I was left to my own devices, staring at the bathroom floor. The thought of changing back occured to me, but I decided against it, and returned to the ballroom where Master Hand was waiting to return me to the stadium.

Link visibly relaxed upon my return and Samus welcomed me back with a nod. The new set of matches were almost over, so I wasn't able to get too comfortable before I was called into another HP fight. I didn't win this time, but my Sheikah form was a new, exciting experience that I didn't want to rid of until lunch rolled around.

"Back to normal?" Rosalina asked as I seated myself next to her, careful not to run the legs of my char on the bottom of my gown.

"I suppose," I shrugged.

"How did you do that anyway? You were like a new person!"

"I have always had the power, I gather. I just did not know." The Triforce was a strange.

"Excuse me, ladies. Did you get a copy of this?" I met a new pair of sky blue eyes. His hair was a tad odd, being bright blonde, but stiff and spiked. On his back was one of the biggest blades I had ever seen, and on his left shoulder sat a makeshift pauldron over his simple, sleeveless shirt. He held out an unfamiliar sheet of information.

"Are you Cloud?" I asked, taking the paper, recognizing his face from the information packets.

He nodded, smiling ever so slightly. "Yes I am, ma'am. May I sit?"

Rosalina and I both nodded. I scanned the parchment that described tonight's event. "A territory battle? With Ink? I am not sure I understand."

"Yeah it's strange," Cloud shrugged. "We'll just have to find out." The warrior searched me, his piercing eyes hard to look away from. I found myself crawling inward, uncertain whether I was blushing on the outside. I tried to look around while eating, finding comfort in turning my attention toward Rosalina, but he prevented me from doing so for long. "Are you Link's girl?"

I nearly spit out my fruit drink. "Am I what?"

"The girl he arrived here with. He has spoken about you before," Cloud explained.

Surely I was blushing at that moment. "Y-yes. Yes, I am the one he arrived with."

The swordsman raised an eyebrow, "I could guess by the ears. Also his description of your beauty was accurate."

Having an attractive man agreeing on another attractive man's compliment about me was overwhelming. There was no denying the hot feeling in my face this time; with an awkward grin, I replied, "T-thank you," and my bit of food tragically fell from its fork pedestal. Thank goodness for the napkin that shielded my dress.

Clearly suppressing a laugh Rosalina changed the subject, making lunch travel by much quicker. Cloud was a nice fellow, very somber yet friendly. I could see ages of pain hidden behind his smile, but such a topic would take a close bond to unlock said details.

Yet another twist was brought to my day when Young Link informed me that sparring was open for encouraged practice, and up to eight opponents could be in an arena at once. He hopped around excitedly, "Wanna be on my team, Princess?"

"We can have teams?" I pondered.

"Yeah! Isabelle said so," Young Link cheered.

"Then sure, I would love to have you on my team."

The young hero beamed and took my hand, dragging me to a group of people. "Can we join?" He asked, gently tugging on Palutena's skirt.

"Oh why it's Zelda! And… a tiny Link. Sure!" She said, placing a hand on Pit's shoulder, her evident teammate. Amongst them stood Fox, Falco, Kirby, and Meta Knight. It seemed that pairing with someone from one's own realm was common. I glanced around to find Link next to his friend Cloud in another group, and I smiled, realizing he wasn't alone.

Nothing extraordinary happened during our team battle. I decided to keep Sheik under wraps for now, waiting for an opportunity to train in my new body later, but Young Link fought valiantly by my side, helping us secure second place. We lost to Kirby and Meta Knight by a single stock. HP was not a factor thankfully, for the feeling received when the points ran out still made my stomach churn. I remained on a team with Young Link for the rest of the afternoon, securing about two wins out of six rounds, and luckily for me, the training room was open for about an hour before we were to be served supper.

Utilizing the entire time slot, I punched, kicked, and chopped the poor, defenseless sandbag, using minimal magic. Never in my life had I thought I would fight in this way, but I was determined to take advantage of the expanded power.

Upon my return to the ballroom, everyone was lining up for the evening event, but nothing possessed me to change back into a princess. As I approached Link's side, he jumped a little, forgetting who I was for just a moment.

"I would like to be on your team this time," I said, ignoring his surprise.

"That would be nice," he agreed. "Mind if Cloud joins us?"

I looked over Link's shoulder and met those sky eyes once more, but held my composure this time. "Of course."

He studied me, but said nothing about my Sheikah form. Instead, I looked elsewhere, explaining, "I think we need one more person on our team."

"How about me? It looks like you could use an experienced shot since we are primarily using guns of sorts. You folks look like guns aren't your thing," Snake had crept up behind us, hearing our recent conversation.

"Sure, why not?" Cloud said. "Any opposition?"

Link and I both shook our heads.

"That identity change… are you a witch or somethin'?" Snake pondered, adjusting his bandana.

"A what?" I replied, then cleared my throat. I was still not used to the voice change.

"Nevermind," he waved the question off with a wrist flick.

"The rules are simple," Master Hand interrupted our words. "Each of you gets to pick one weapon that shoots ink. Cover as much turf in your color as possible. You will be set against another four other people trying to reach the same goal. If you get covered in too much ink of the opposite color, you will be teleported back to the start. Got it?"

Most of us nodded. With a snaps of his fingers, Master Hand plopped a giant case of weapons in front of all of us. When our team was up to choose weapons, we took our time observing and reading what each weapon did on their labels.

"I think I'll take the roller," Cloud stated. "Being a swordsman, it might not be too difficult."

"With that logic, I will take the paintbrush," Link stated, placing it in his left hand.

"I'm decent at sniping," Snake grabbed a long, skinny sort of ink gun.

"I um… I use mostly magic. And in this form, not even that," I muttered.

Link smiled sideways, unsure of how to help, but Snake took the initiative and shoved a smaller gun with a large tank of deep blue ink mounted on top. "Take the Splattershot. It seems to be on the easier side and you can cover a lot of turf," he explained. "Oh and it says here that the guns refill when you dip them in your own colored ink that has already been sprayed." He tapped the label under the empty slot where my gun had sat.

"That makes no sense," Cloud observed. "Scooping up ink from the ground won't increase the amount of total ink."

"Hey, I'm no expert on magic," Snake retorted.

"How do I-" I pulled the trigger without quite knowing what to do, covering Link in blue.

He simply winced and grunted, wiping his eyes.

"I am so sorry!" I cried, but before I could help, the cutest chuckle came from him.

"That's quite alright, Princess." He made himself a raccoon mark on his face, and then before thinking, poked my tan forehead with the ink. After realizing what he had done, he looked apologetic until I started giggling. Thank goodness my Sheikah mask covered my blush.

We were warped to some sort of obstacle course full of machinery transporting boxes to a fro.

"Is this an appropriate spot for a paint war?" I pondered.

"Must be," Snake said from my left, testing the weight of his gun.

With no idea who was on the other team, I tried to look brave and braced myself for anything.

 _It is just a game,_ I reminded myself. _The fight does not matter._

From behind, Link nudged me a little and smile, still looking rather hilarious from my accidental coat of paint.

"I hope this does not stain everything," I mumbled.

"I think they said something about that not being an issue in the sheets we were given at lunch," Cloud replied from the front, gripping his giant paint roller.

"Good," I grumbled.

"Ready your weapons," Master Hand's voice instructed. "3… 2… 1… GO!"

I raced forward, but slowed down when my teammates began spraying the ground around us. _Oh right. Cover the turf,_ I reminded myself. Forgetting about my clothes, I sprayed any barren spot on the ground I could, hopping behind large crates to cover every alley and crevice. Just when I thought we were making fantastic progress, I was reminded quickly of the existence of the other team.

"Oh hello, Zelly! Or should I say Sheiky? Sheik is your new name, right?"

I whirled around to see Peach had snuck up behind me, a mischievous grin upon her lips. Not a second too soon, I dodged to the left and started shooting sporadically as she flung lime-green paint at me from her bucket.

"Hey! Ow!" she yelped, pink dress turning bluer with every shot until was teleported away.

"Nice work, Zelda!" Snake's voice came from atop a stack of crates.

I looked up. "Thank you!" But my divided attention nearly cost me.

Snake suddenly aimed his lengthy gun at me and shot. I winced, wondering why he was turning on me, a pang of fear and surprise pecking at my stomach, but nothing hit me. Lying on the ground next to me was Ness, covered in blue. He disappeared before I could even take aim.

"Always pay attention," The war veteran commanded, shooting at a new target.

Nodding, I simply stalked away, but didn't get far before Link caught my attention.

"Psst! Zelda!" his voice urged from a corner, barely audible over the whirring of the machinery.

I dashed over to him, eyes darting for any sign of the other team, but we seemed safe. Something new was written in his expression: excitement. Despite being covered in blue ink, he was sporting a huge smile, gripping his giant paint brush as if it would fly away. Someone was having fun.

"Yes?" I asked, his positive vibes worming their way into my emotions as well.

"Want to storm the other side by their spawn point so we can cover some of ground their and distract them? Maybe Cloud and Snake would have an easier time if we keep them as far back as possible."

"Sounds like a good idea," I stated, his contagious mischief encouraging me to have more fun than I would have alone.

We left our little hiding spot, dashing into a back alley that had no color whatsoever, meaning the route was for our taking. I let Link paint the floor as I watched his back, gun prepared. Within moments we were finding our boots getting a mingle of green and blue as we had officially stepped into enemy territory.

Peach suddenly lunged out from behind an inflatable obstacle, playfully revenge-bent on getting me back for the KO, but Link was one step ahead, getting minorly sloshed by her bucket as he struck her twice with his brush, eliminating the threat.

"It is almost as if you have done something similar before," I teased.

He just laughed as we continued to push forward.

"Quick! Behind here!" Link grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a wall. Bower Jr. whizzed by, missing us by a mere second. "Let me think," Link instructed, peeking around the corner, taking in our current location. "I'll go out and start painting the ground. You stand near this wall and cover me. Sound good?"

I nodded, hoping he could detect the joy in my eyes. Suddenly, I felt tired of this mask; this new form was useful, but something inside of me wanted to be myself. "Hold on one second. Do you think I would get in trouble if I changed back?"

Link's smile grew. "I don't see why not. It's not an actual match."

Hoping for the best, I decided to follow through with my wish, becoming my true self once more. The gun felt slightly heavier in hand, but it was nothing to fret over. My real obstacle was my gown; I had nearly forgotten I was sporting the pink one, for I had been Sheik for most of the day.

Our first problem was Captain Falcon. He had discovered our plot, yet every time we finished him off, he was respawned nearby. I felt at little bad that when his attention was on me, Link would jump him from behind and vice-versa. Two against one was unfair, but at least there was one less person in the fray for Cloud and Snake to deal with. Soon, Ness joined Falcon in the continuous loop of KO's, making it all the more difficult for us. I was a horrible aim, but Link was so naturally talented with the sword-like weapon, it made up for my incompetence.

Suddenly, I was being washed in green, the opposing ink covering me. "Ha-ha! Got you back!" Peach called, flinging another gallon onto me. She had discovered our ruse and found away behind me. There was no time to turn on her.

"Zelda!" Link shouted. Ness and Captain Falcon's forms were the last images I saw before I was suddenly standing on our spawn platform, clean of any color splatters on my gown.

As I was regaining my bearings, Link appeared next to me, looking a tad surprised. He turned to me, still grinning with an outstretched hand, "Round two?"

I beamed, and we dashed away, his right hand in my left.

 **A/N: I'm being slow again, I know, but these summer classes are tougher than I thought and I have like four or five instruments to practice on top of it. It'll be a while before the next update, but I hope you like the little twist in this one!**


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